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

 Jinsī bhūk

When in golden fields sun waves scatter,

I feel as if beautiful girls

Are bathing together in clear pond water.

.

Whether I see a bird soaring in the wind or 

A fish rolling in the sea, 

Naked girls swim in my eyes.

.

In mosque domes I see

Breasts;

In bending tree branches, arms;

Everywhere I’m reminded of girls.

.

When I see them on the streets by day,

An ecstasy begins to crowd my mind. 

By night they come to me in dreams, 

Wake me up, keep me from sleep, these 

Beautiful girls, hard after me. 

All these dreams, this madness 

Is sex hunger.

.

Friends, what cure is there

But a girl

Whom I can love,

Who loves me,

But is afraid to come to me.

.

  November 1964

.

From: Dard kā shahr (City of Suffering). Lāhaur: Naʼī maṭbūʻāt. 1965. pp.71 – 72

             

When in golden fields sun waves scatter,

I feel as if beautiful girls

Are bathing together in clear pond water.

.

Whether I see a bird soaring in the wind or 

A fish rolling in the sea, 

Naked girls swim in my eyes.

.

In mosque domes I see

Breasts;

In bending tree branches, arms;

Everywhere I’m reminded of girls.

.

When I see them on the streets by day,

An ecstasy begins to crowd my mind. 

By night they come to me in dreams, 

Wake me up, keep me from sleep, these 

Beautiful girls, hard after me. 

All these dreams, this madness 

Is sex hunger.

.

Friends, what cure is there

But a girl

Whom I can love,

Who loves me,

But is afraid to come to me.

.

  November 1964

.

From: Dard kā shahr (City of Suffering). Lāhaur: Naʼī maṭbūʻāt. 1965. pp.71 – 72