Lt. Gen. (r) Tariq Khan’s version
Friends, Pakistanis, countrymen, Your attention please;
I come to remember Imran Khan, not to praise him.
The evil that men do lives after them;
The good is oft interred with their bones;
So let it be with Imran. The noble Shabaz Sharif,
Hath told you Imran was ambitious:
If it were so, it was a grievous fault,
And grievously hath Imran answered it.
Here, under leave of Shabaz and the rest–
For Shabaz is an honourable man;
So are they all, all honourable men–
Come I to speak on Imran’s departure.
He was Pakistan’s friend, faithful and just to the nation:
But Shabaz says he was ambitious;
And Shabaz is an honourable man.
When that the poor have cried, Imran hath wept:
Ambition should be made of sterner stuff:
Yet Shabaz says he was ambitious;
And Shabaz is an honourable man.
And, sure, he is an honourable man.
Imran brought back national pride and hope,
Making the country sovereign and strong,
I speak not to disprove what Shabaz has done,
But here I am to speak what I do know.
You all did love Imran once, not without cause:
What cause withholds you then, to mourn his departure now?
O judgment! thou art fled to brutish beasts,
And men have lost their reason. Bear with me;
My heart is there with Imran,
And I must pause till it come back to me.
This poem originally written by Shakespeare has been re-written by Lt General (r) Tariq Khan, the man who fought the war against militancy in most critical time of Pakistan’s history. He led active military operations as Brigadier, IGFC and as Lt General of Pakistan Army.As Commander Central Command and Corps Commander Lt General (retd) Tariq Khan was part of important decision making relating to Pakistan’s security.
