Ùیض اØمد Ùیض / Faiz Ahmed Faiz, August, 1952
روشن کهيں بهار کے امکاں هوۓ تو هيں / It's still distant, but there are hints of springtime
گلشن ميں چاک چند گريباں هوۓ تو هيں / some flowers, aching to bloom, have torn open their collars.
اب بهي خزاں کا راج هے، ليکن کهيں کهيں / In this era of autumn, almost winter, leaves can still be heard
گوشے رە٠چمن ميں غزل خواں هوۓ تو هيں / their dry orchestras play, hidden in corners of the garden.
ٹههري هوي هے شب کي سياهي وهيں، مگر / Night is still where it was, but colors at times take flight,
Ú©Ú†Ú¾ Ú©Ú†Ú¾ سØر Ú©Û’ رنگ پر اÙشاں هوۓ تو هيں / leaving red feathers of dawn on the sky.
ان ميں لهو جلا هو همارا، کۂ جان و دل / Don't regret our breath's use as air, our blood's as oil --
Ù…ØÙÙ„ ميں Ú©Ú†Ú¾ چراغ Ùروزاں هوۓ تو هيں / some lamps at last are burning in the night.
هاں کج کرو کلاە کۂ سب کچھ لٹا کے هم / Tilt your cup, don't hesitate! Having given up all,
اب بے نياز٠گردش٠دوراں هوۓ تو هيں / we don't need wine. We've freed ourselves, made Time irrelevant.
اهل٠قÙس Ú©ÙŠ صبØ٠چمن ميں ÙÚ©Ú¾Ù„Û’ Ú¯ÙŠ انکھ / When imprisoned man opens his eyes, cages will dissolve: air, fire,
باد٠صبا سے وعدە و پيماں هوۓ تو هيں / water, earth -- all have pledged such dawns, such gardens to him.
Ù‡Û’ دشت اب بهي دشت، مگر خون٠پا سے Ùيض / Your feet bleed, Faiz, something surely will bloom
سيراب چند خار٠مغيلاں هوۓ تو هيں / as you water the desert simply by walking through it.
(Translated by the ever-loved Kashmiri poet, Agha Shahid Ali)
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Manan Ahmed, Supriya Nair. Supriya Nair said: RT @sepoy On this shining August 15th, a verse from Faiz Ahmed Faiz w/ translation by Agha Shahid Ali. http://bit.ly/cUbAiE [...]
ÙŠÛ Ø§Ù†Ú¯Ø±ÙŠØ²ÛŒ ØªØ±Ø¬Ù…Û Ø¢Ù¾ Ù†Û’ کيا ÛÛ’ يا Ùيض صاØب Ù†Û’ کيا تھا ØŸ
معاÙÛŒ چاÛتا ÛÙˆÚº ميں Ù†Û’ آخر ميں ديکھا Ù†ÛÙŠÚº تھا Û” آغا شاÛد علی صاØب Ú©Ûاں رÛائش رکھتے ÛÙŠÚº Û” مجھ بے علم Ù†Û’ ان کا نام Ù¾ÛÙ„ÛŒ بار سنا ÛÛ’
Iftikhar Sahib, Agha Shahid Ali is sadly no longer among us, though, his words and his poetry are very much alive. You can read a biographical note on him here: http://www.chapatimystery.com/archives/poet.html?id=95 And this remembrance by Aamir Mufti in Dawn is beautifully rendered: http://www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-library/dawn/news/culture/04-agha-shahid-ali-qs-01 I highly recommend his The Country Without a Post Office (1997) along with his many translations, specifically of Faiz.
Apologies for the off-topic query, but I've had this question for a while: is the "hay" letter in yours and Iftikhar Sahib's Urdu font (e.g. in "mujh") a compromise, because the fonts online don't have the (what I was taught to call, and have always thought wonderfully evocative) the "do-chasmee hai" (with the line down the middle of the letter), or is it that both are equally acceptable as spellings?
Hmm, can't be my first suggestion, as I see it is used in "Bhopal"...
Qalandari sahib even I had the same doubt...apparently it depends on the transliteration software.some transliterators use the chhoti he while others use do chashmi he...
Couple of passing thoughts.... Shahid was my classmate at the U of Delhi for first year M.A. English. Nice to see people referring to his works.... For people like me, seeing Faiz's ghazal in phonetic roman script or Hindi script would be very enjoyable. Just for Info: Am working on setting up a blog for translated Gujarati poetry, with the original Gujarati, phonetic roman script, and my own English translations. Narsinh Mehta, the 15th century creator of Vaishnav Jana To, one of Gandhiji's favorite prayers, and in another dimension, Gujarati Ghazals, which are far less known than they should be.
semiophile2010: I will try and put up transliteration. Thanks for prompting me. And do tell us when your blog is up.
Thanks for sharing, I am big fan of A. Shahid Ali, he was a rare talent, and his ghazals in english are exceptional.
@semiophile2010:try searching for this guy called Max Babi on gather.com he has done quite a lot of work in gujrati poetry
http://pulsemedia.org/2010/07/21/truth-alone-triumphs-of-david-goliath-stones-and-speech/ At the end of this article please find the transliteration of some couplets of this ghazal as well as my attempt at translating them... I absolutely adore Agha Shahid Ali's poetry, and you will notice that the article begins by citing him, but his original work in English is so much better than his translations of Faiz.