A Fleeting Glimpse

I lie, curled up and subdued,

A scaredy cat by the corner,

She swallowed me in fastidious gulps,

Spat out, In copious measures, She

My sanity and caprice, And fed me,

With the mundaneness of her world,

Unwittingly, I manifest in,

The catacombs of her dark womb,

Pregnant, My thoughts with the allure of light,

The warmth of the rays of the splendid sun,

Le Soleil, The life that once belonged,

To me, And just for me it bloomed,

To ink my parchment blanche with lines,

Of personal and private verse,

Flowed turbulent my articulate odes,

To the silken gown that adorned her form,

And flapped in the breeze her dainty scarf,

Intoxicating the gusts of wind,

The storm, so stifled, In her tresses,

And the goblets, her bottomless eyes,

Would I live long enough to see,

This haunting, evanescent memory?

Mozoo'-e-Sukhan (Gul Hui Jaati Hai...) Faiz Ahmed Faiz

Another one of Faiz Sahab's nazms, a more ambitious project, I was a little more liberal and personal with this translation, it was very very difficult for me to bring forth the emotions portrayed in this one, if a single couplet retains the original's charm, I would consider myself fortunate.

English Transliteration from the original Urdu

Mozoo'-e-Sukhan

Gul hui jaati hai afsurdah sulagti hui shaam,

Dhul ke niklegi abhi chasma'ee maahtaab se raat,

Aur mushtaaq nigaahon ki suni jaayegi,

Aur un haathon se mas honge, Yeh tarse hue haat.

Un ka aanchal hai keh rukhsaar keh pairaahan hai,

Kuch toh hai jis se hui jaati hai chilman rangeen,

Jaane us zulf ki mauhoom ghani chaaon me,

Timtimaata hai woh aaweezah abhi tak keh nahin.

Aaj phir husn-e-dil-aara ki wohi dhaj hogi,

Wohi khaabeeda si aankhen, Wohi kaajal ki lakeer,

Rang-e-rukhsaar pe halka sa woh ghaaze ka ghubaar,

Sandali haath pe dhundli si hina ki tehreer.

Apne afkaar ki, Ash'aar ki duniya hai yehi,

Jaan-e-mazmoon hai yehi, Shaahid-e-m'aana hai yehi,

Aaj tak surkh-o-siyaah sadiyon ke saaye ke tale,

Aadam-o-havva ki aulaad pe kya guzri hai?

Maut aur zeest ki rozaanah saf-aarai mein,

Hum pe kya guzregi, Ajdaad pe kya guzri hai?

In damakte hue shehron ki faraawaan makhlooq,

Kyun faqat marne ki hasrat mein jiya karti hai?

Yeh haseen khet, phata padta hai joban jin ka,

Kis liye in mein faqat bhook uga karti hai?

Yeh har ek simt par asraar kadi deewarein,

Jal bujhe jin mein hazaaron ki jawaani ke chiraagh,

Yeh har ik gaam peh un khaabon ki maqtal-gaahein,

Jin ke partau se charaaghaan hain hazaaron ke dimaagh.

Yeh bhi hai, Aise kai aur bhi mazmoon honge,

Lekin us shokh ke aahista se khulte hue hont,

Haye! Us jism ke kam-bakht dil-aaweez khatoot,

Aap hi kahiye, kahin aise bhi afsoon honge?

Apna mozoo'-e-sukhan in ke siwa aur nahin,

Tab'-e-shaa'ir ka watan in ke siwa aur nahin.......

My Poetry and My Muse (English Translation)

The ashes of a melancholy evening crumbles,

To give way to night, bathed in silver moonlight,

When expectant stares would be rewarded,

My pinings would effervesce, at her gentle touch.

Is it her garb, or the facade of her countenance,

Or a spark that illuminates the murk,

Or through the refuge of her fancied tresses,

Shines ebullient the orb of night?

Tonight, my beloved's familiar form shall overwhelm,

Her latent kohl-laden stares shall pierce,

With a hint of rouge, Her effulgent cheeks,

Her pearly hands, Ornately embellished with Henna!

Thus the cosmos of my musings, My poetry,

She manifests my soul and every resolve,

Under dark shadows that centuries cast,

What did humanity painfully endure?

Vacillating between abodes of life and death,

Would I endure my unpleasant inheritance?

The abundant hordes, Of alluring cities,

Why merely death inspires their existence?

These charming pastures, Once teeming with life,

Why merely reaps hunger now in fecundity?

The obstinate, abstruse, cluttered hurdles,

That doused the flames of countless youth,

At every stride, A million dreams guillotined,

To illuminate a billion ignited minds!

And thus, There would spring numerous rimes,

The graceful parting of her playful lips,

Ah! The wretched beauty of her material form,

Opine! Is there a greater enchantment?

Devoid of my muse, My poetry ceases to exist,

A poet's dream, His identity ceases to exist.............

Chand Roz Aur Meri Jaan........ Faiz Ahmed Faiz

An attempted poetic translation, not a literal one, of Faiz Ahmed Faiz Sahab's Urdu nazm, 'Chand Roz Aur Meri Jaan'. To paint Faiz Sahab's canvas in a foreign tongue, is the humble task I undertake, but the ever graceful Urdu language, in my opinion, can never be restored in a translation. Nevertheless, I try to satiate my own ego!

English Transliteration from the original Urdu

Chand roz aur, Meri Jaan! Faqat chand hi roz,

Zulm ki chaaon me dum lene pe majboor hain hum,

Aur kuch der sitam seh lein, Tadap lein, Ro lein,

Apne ajdaad ki miraas hai, M'aazoor hain hum,

Jism par qaid hai, Jazbaat pe zanjeerein hain,

Fikr mahboos hai, Guftaar pe t'aazirein hain,

Apni himmat hai keh hum phir bhi jiye jaate hain,

Zindagi kya kisi muflis ki qaba hai jis mein,

Har ghadi dard ke paivand lage jaate hain,

Lekin ab zulm ki mi'aad ke din thode hain,

Ik zara sabr ke faryaad ke din thode hain,

Arsa-e-dehr ki jhulsi hui weeraani mein,

Hum ko rehna hai par yoon hi toh nahi rehna,

Ajnabi haathon ka benaam garaan-baar sitam,

Aaj sehna hai, Hamesha toh nahin sehna hai,

Yeh tere husn se lipti hui aalaam ki gard,

Apni do roza jawaani ki shekaston ka shumaar,

Chaandni raaton ka bekaar dehekta hua dard,

Dil ki besood tadap, Jism ki maayoos pukaar,

Chand roz aur, Meri Jaan! Faqat chand hi roz...........

A few more days, my Love!

A few more days, my Love! Merely a handful more,

Condemned to exist, Thou and I, Eclipsed in tyranny,

Bear with me the cruel winds, smart and weep,

My inheritance, My lineage demands, I'm but a mere cripple,

My shackled extremities, My manacled spirits,

Imprisoned my every thought, Every word restrained,

All that remains is courage, And hence I persist,

The drapery, My life, A tatterdemalion's flowing robe,

Patched, In tatters, With fragments of pain,

But the times of oppression would soon cease,

Persevere, Our laments would soon cease,

In this desolate, parched desert sands,

We must now last, But not forever stand,

This crushing weight of an alien conjuring,

We must now endure, But not forever withstand,

The air of distress that tenderly envelops thy form,

The numerous gashes of our deficient youth,

Moonlit nights, Fruitless pangs of throbbing pain,

Unanswered cries of the poor heart, The body's melancholic strain,

A few more days, my Love! Merely a handful more...........

The Oracle (Signs)

The oracle in her infinite wisdom bright,

Wrote for us an esoteric tale,

In a specious cuddle, drowned in moonlight,

Thou and I, In a yacht set sail,

To the abode of hers in the clouds,

Bickering like the mighty rain and shine,

In a quest to appease the massive crowds,

Gargantuan egos, yours and mine,

Would we ever in our separate ways exist?

Or blow up in a cloud of smoke?

Would we merely in the others' dreams persist?

'Halt!', In a booming voice she spoke,

And laid to rest our crazy whims,

'March to the rhythm of thy hearts',

She opined as the moonlight dims,

And the smouldering fire in us starts,

To crackle, And the moonless night enwraps,

You and me in a warm embrace,

The twinkling in thy eyes it straps,

Our throbbing, tired hearts in place!