This poem was translated by Professor Carlo Coppola as part of the MULOSIGE Translations project. You can explore our collection of Urdu Poetry here.
Main̲ aur “main̲” / I and “I”
The tiredness of the day has brought me to the valley of sleep;
A bed of dust is better than a bed of flowers;
Bring in night and put out all lights;
The body will sleep and so will intellect, perception.
.
Night came, but the lights never went out;
A fire still smoulders in my side;
From the root of each hair comes a voice: “Go! Go!
Search and bring that one thing you lost somewhere.”
.
Barefooted, I have come out of that house;
I strike my head and shriek loudly:
“O gods, give me back my prostrations!
Otherwise this Satan will never let me sleep.”
.
1963
.
From: Nayā ʻahdnāmah (New Testament). ʻAlīgaṛh: ʻAlīgaṛh Buk Hāʼūs, 1965. pp. 130 – 31
The tiredness of the day has brought me to the valley of sleep;
A bed of dust is better than a bed of flowers;
Bring in night and put out all lights;
The body will sleep and so will intellect, perception.
.
Night came, but the lights never went out;
A fire still smoulders in my side;
From the root of each hair comes a voice: “Go! Go!
Search and bring that one thing you lost somewhere.”
.
Barefooted, I have come out of that house;
I strike my head and shriek loudly:
“O gods, give me back my prostrations!
Otherwise this Satan will never let me sleep.”
.
1963
.
From: Nayā ʻahdnāmah (New Testament). ʻAlīgaṛh: ʻAlīgaṛh Buk Hāʼūs, 1965. pp. 130 – 31
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