Faiz in Translation: Nazm 'Yaad' by Faiz Ahmad Faiz Sahab

Yet another attempt at translating Faiz, and this one at a friend's request! One of my favourite nazms, beautifully rendered by Iqbal Bano in her inimitable voice (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ev8ucJuj3DM)

As always, a disclaimer is due! I've taken my liberties, but I've tried to retain the rhyming scheme and the meter (It's awful difficult in English!). I hope it helps!

Urdu Transliteration:

Yaad (Ik nazm)

Dasht e tanhaai meiN, ai jaan e jahaaN, larzaaN hai,

Teri aawaaz ke saaye, tere hontoN ke saraab,

Dasht e tanhaai meiN, doori ke khas o khaak tale,

Khil rahe haiN tere pehlu meiN saman aur gulaab,

Uth rahi hai kahiN qurbat se teri saans ki aanch,

Apni khushboo meiN sulagti hui, madham, madham,

Door ufuq paar chamakti hui, qatra, qatra,

Gir rahi hai teri dildaar nazar ki shabnam,

Is qadar pyaar se, ai jaan e jahaaN! Rakkha hai,

Dil ke rukhsaar pe is waqt teri yaad ne haath,

YooN gumaaN hota hai garche hai abhi subh e firaaq,

Dhal gaya hijr ka din, aa bhi gayi wasl ki raat..........

English Translation

Memories (Wilderness of Solitude)

In the wilderness of my solitude, quiver and tremble,

A haunting ghost of thy voice, and a mirage of thy lips,

In the wilderness of my solitude, the distance between,

Now parched grasses, at your touch, bloom jasmines and tulips,

The air, enwraps you, and now glows in thy warm, perfumed breath,

Slowly burns in the heady fragrance, gently, gently,

In the far, far horizon, glistens pearly drop by drop,

The dew that falls under thy loving gaze, tenderly,

And full of care, my love! Thy effervescent memory,

Reassuring, a tender hand, on the cold cheek of my heart,

And though, the day of our separation dawns, it feels,

The sun has set, the night is nigh, and we'll never part........

A Translation: Nisaar Mein Teri Galiyon Ke..... By Faiz Ahmed Faiz Sahab

Another one of Faiz Sahab's nazms that kills me each time I read it! This was written during tumultuous times in his country (From Dast-e-Saba). I've tried to maintain the rhyming scheme and hence I've taken a lot of liberties with the translation. It's a poetic translation, that is, the idioms and phrases have not been literally translated, and I've tried to use phrases in English that is closest to the ones in Urdu (Disclaimer: That's merely my humble opinion!). I know that translations can never do justice to the original, but even if in parts it makes enough sense, that would be a thumbs up for me!

Original Urdu (English Transliteration):

Nisaar mein teri galiyon ke ai watan ke jahan,
Chali hai rasm ke koi na sar utha ke chale,
Jo koi chahne waala tawaaf ko nikle,
Nazar chura ke chale, jism-o-jaan bacha ke chale,
Hai ahl-e-dil ke liye ab ye nazm-e-bast-o-kushaad,
Ke sang-o-khisht muqayyad hain aur sag aazaad,

Bahut hai zulm ke dast-e-bahaana-joo ke liye,
Jo chand ahl-e-junoon tere naam lewa hain,
Bane hain ahl-e-hawas mudd'ai bhi, munsif bhi,
Kise wakeel karein, kisse munsifi chahein,
Magar guzaarne waalon ke din guzarte hain,
Tere firaaq mein yoon subh-o-shaam karte hain,

Bujha jo rozan-e-zindaan to dil ye samjha hai,
Ke teri maang sitaaron se bhar gayi hogi,
Chamak uthe hain salaasil to hum ne jaana hai,
Ke ab seher tere rukh par bikhar gayi hogi,
Gharaz tasavvur-e-shaam-o-seher mein jeete hain,
Giraft-e-saaya-e-deewaar-o-dar mein jeete hain,

Yoon hi hamesha ulajhti rahi hai zulm se khalq,
Na unki rasm nayi hai, na apni reet nayi,
Yoon hi hamesha khilaaye hain hum ne aag mein phool,
Na unki haar nayi hai, na apni jeet nayi,
Isi sabab se falak ka gila nahi karte,
Tere firaaq mein hum dil bura nahi karte,

Gar aaj tujh se juda hain to kal behem honge,
Ye raat bhar ki judaai to koi baat nahi,
Gar aaj auj pe hai taala'-e-raqeeb to kya,
Ye chaar din ki khudai to koi baat nahi,
Jo tujh se ehd-e-wafa ustuwaar rakhte hain,
Ilaaj-e-gardish-e-lail-o-nihaar rakhte hain!

English Translation:

To thy streets O Nation! I pledge my life,
Where the lawless vagabonds abound,
And the romantics who wander deeply in love,
In constant fear don't utter a sound,
Such is the order for hearts, the sanctuary,
As the stones are captive, the dogs run free,

Many are the reasons the oppressors deem,
As they passionately evoke thy name,
As they greedily plead and render justice,
Who shall be our judge, who the case shall frame,
But the days shall crawl for those who persist,
Divorced from thee the souls of ones who exist,

As darkness engulfs my gaol I know,
The glitter of stars would shower thy tresses,
And with a glint on my fetters I feel,
Thy gentle face the dawn caresses,
And in assumed days and nights we live,
Under the shadows of these walls we live,

And as always under oppression we reel,
Neither their customs nor our traditions are new,
And as always in scorching heat we've bloomed,
Neither their defeat nor our triumph are new,
Precisely why the sky we don't blame,
Or mourn endlessly this drought, thy name,

Today you're faraway but tomorrow would be ours,
Of no significance this lonely night,
If the lucky ones today are the oppressors, love!
Our dawn is not too far in sight,
Those who only in your thoughts dwell,
Hold the key to endure death's knell!

Joy

She blew at me those bubbles of joy,
Evanescent and effervescent,
Like a heady autumn breeze,
That blew for me, her choicest scent,

That ruffled the pages, an open book,
Long forgotten, long unattended,
Scraps of a tatterdemalion's life,
A corner, a robe, a heart that bled,

I dwelt for a moment outside me,
Oh what web my mistress spun!
I left my tales of woe and pain,
And the tragic rhyme that I'd begun,

And in a moment, quick as they came,
They fizzled, broke and left me drenched,
Melancholic, as the poet in me,
His strangest, arcane thirst, now quenched!