since the time of Hafiz (d. 1389). Do the above-mentioned motifs in Pazhwak’s poetry stand for the sweet joys of earthy life? Or is there a deeper, mystical meaning behind the motifs? Should they be understood the way we interpret Omar Khayyam, who, for example, uses the image of wine to depict independent thinking and free reasoning? [12] In Pazhwak’s case it does not make sense to interpret the motifs as reflections of a libertine. They are rather the expressions of a joyful affirmation of existence and delight in living. These poems belong to the first phase of Pazhwak’s literature which Puiya Fariyabi describes as "the phase of passionate love and friendship", dawra-yi shur-i ‘ishq wa nishat.[13] On the other hand, Pazhwak also followed his own distinct poetic path as Farhadi stresses in the same paragraph: "But the Dari poetry of Pazhwak is more than anything the result of his own, natural talent for poetry."[14] We can be more precise about this aspect: Pazhwak was himself creative in the content he chose for his poetry and he acted freely and also filled the known formats of classical poetry with new, contemporary and sometimes critical themes and content which in large part drew on his homeland and culture. Crafted in the neo-classical style, in Pazhwak's poetry we also encounter moments of classical adaptation (form) and at the same time moments of innovation (contemporary themes and content). For example, Pazhwak was an independent thinker and literati, capable of critical reflection about his homeland and the internal political circumstances there. This central aspect appears regularly in his literary work in a subtle and aesthetic manner. He obviously used the politically charged theme of freedom – in the sense of political freedom and the political rights of citizens – in relationship with the conditions in Afghanistan. Trenchantly and elegantly he expressed his worrying thoughts: Today I am reminded of that land, Where the people are prisoners, but the country is free.[15] The format in which these verses appear is traditional. But the content, by contrast, is linked to the happenings of the time. The key characteristic is the antithesis of the second part of the half-verse where the adjectives free and imprisoned are juxtaposed. In the poem Pazhwak writes about the theme of political conditions inside. The declaration in the content can be paraphrased as follows: even though has been freed from foreign (i.e.