This poem was translated by Professor Carlo Coppola as part of the MULOSIGE Translations project. You can explore our collection of Urdu Poetry here.

Professor Carlo Coppola, Oakland University

ʻIrfān / Gnosis

I’m standing on the way where

I have no hope 

That anyone I know would pass by;

I see people, unfortunate like myself; 

I will have to make

My journey from eternity to eternity 

Depending on this search.

.

Whenever someone has passed by me,

I’ve asked him, 

I seek people, 

Unfortunate like myself;

For heaven’s sake, tell me

How long will I have to wander 

Aimlessly on this road

Longing for the last destination?

He took my hand in his and said,

Why do you think me a stranger?

I’m also wander aimlessly like you

In search of the last destination;

But, like you, I’m not willing to accept

The reality of the last destination.

.

From: Ism-i aʻẓam (Name of the Greatest [God]). ʻAlīʹgaṛh: Inḍiyan Buk Hāʻūs, 1965. pp. 30 – 31

             

I’m standing on the way where

I have no hope 

That anyone I know would pass by;

I see people, unfortunate like myself; 

I will have to make

My journey from eternity to eternity 

Depending on this search.

.

Whenever someone has passed by me,

I’ve asked him, 

I seek people, 

Unfortunate like myself;

For heaven’s sake, tell me

How long will I have to wander 

Aimlessly on this road

Longing for the last destination?

He took my hand in his and said,

Why do you think me a stranger?

I’m also wander aimlessly like you

In search of the last destination;

But, like you, I’m not willing to accept

The reality of the last destination.

.

From: Ism-i aʻẓam (Name of the Greatest [God]). ʻAlīʹgaṛh: Inḍiyan Buk Hāʻūs, 1965. pp. 30 – 31