The Poem In Shantaram?

Question

Does anyone know if this poem/poet are real, or if the Gregory David Roberts just wrote it for the book?

I'm talking about the poem Lin read in Karla's journal:

To make sure none followed where you led

I used my hair to cover our tracks.

Sun set on the island of our bed

night rose

eating echoes

and we were beached there, in tangles of flicker,

candles whispering at our driftwood backs.

Your eyes above me

afraid of the truth we did say

less than the lie we didn't.

I went in deep, I went in deep,

to fight the past for you.

Now we both know

sorrows are the seeds of loving.

Now we both know I will live and

I will die for this love.

Answer 1

Ah...

In the book he credits it to 'a Sufi poet, Sadiq Khan'.

Persistent Googling refuses to yield up any answers as to whether a poet, 'Sadiq Khan' ever existed. Tsk. Dead end.

However, I won't put it past Gregory David Roberts to have sprung the poem and fictional poet out of his head.

Most of Shantaram literally erupted from his head. The 'event's took place but most of the people and dialogue never existed. It's 'lightly' autobiographical. Which is probably the best and the worst thing about the book - that the author could write so much out of thin air - and annoying that there is so much written out of thin air.

Back to poetry - from the authors website under the 'Poetry' section: "In all the Sufi poetry and mystical writings, there is the obvious, romantically passionate level of understanding. But there's also a deeper layer of interpretation, where the writing relates to the poet's love for God."

So - he is a big fan of Sufi poetry. Maybe Sadiq Khan DID exist - but - as of now -  there is no way of me finding out the truth.

But he also wanted to write poems to be included in an anthology that he wanted to release as a collector's edition, toward the end of 2005.

So - yes - he writes poetry.

So the poem may be his. Almost 60% sure.

That's the closest I could get to a 'concrete' answer :)