This poem was translated by Professor Carlo Coppola as part of the MULOSIGE Translations project. You can explore our collection of Urdu Poetry here.
Pairāhan-i sharar / Garment of Fire
Who stands there wearing the robe of fire,
His body fatigue-crushed, blood running from his brow?
Majnun and Farhad lived long, long ago.
To whom, O people of the world, do we owe this command to shower stones?
Here, no beloved with sweet ways,
No spring with the body of Laila.
To whom do we owe this planting of tulip-wounds?
Some madman who still invokes Truth,
Who rejects deceit and fraud.
It’s clear: His punishment should be death by stoning.
6 August 1965
.
From: Pairāhan-i sharar (Garment of Fire), 1965. p. 33
Pairāhan-i sharar is quoted in full in Urdu Poetry, 1935-1970
Who stands there wearing the robe of fire,
His body fatigue-crushed, blood running from his brow?
Majnun and Farhad lived long, long ago.
To whom, O people of the world, do we owe this command to shower stones?
Here, no beloved with sweet ways,
No spring with the body of Laila.
To whom do we owe this planting of tulip-wounds?
Some madman who still invokes Truth,
Who rejects deceit and fraud.
It’s clear: His punishment should be death by stoning.
6 August 1965
.
From: Pairāhan-i sharar (Garment of Fire), 1965. p. 33
Pairāhan-i sharar is quoted in full in Urdu Poetry, 1935-1970
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