Come, I have heard the rapture of your drum;

Come, the rhythm of my blood is intoxicated [by it];

“Come back, Africa!”

Come—I have lifted my head from the dust;

Come—I have scraped the bark of sorrow with my eyes;

Come—I have wrenched my arm from the grip of pain;

Come—I have pulled away the net of helplessness;

“Come back, Africa!”

In my grip the link of the handcuff has become a mace,

Breaking he fetters around my neck; I have moulded my shield;

“Come back, Africa!”

In every foothill, the spears of gazelles’ eyes are aflame;

The blackness of the night has become red with enemy’s blood;

“Come back, Africa!”

The earth throbs with me, O Africa;

The river dances and the woods keep time: Come back, Africa!

I am Africa; I have taken your form;

I am you; my gait is yours—the gait of the lion.

“Come back, Africa!”

Come with the gait of the lion,

“Come back, O Africa!”

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            Montgomery Jail  ∙  14 January 1955

           

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From: Zindān̲ nāmah (Prison Narrative). Dihlī: Kabīr Buk Ḍipo. 1955. pp. 127 – 29

Ā jāʼo, afrīqah! is quoted in full in Urdu Poetry, 1935-1970