This poem was translated by Professor Carlo Coppola as part of the MULOSIGE Translations project. You can explore our collection of Urdu Poetry here.
K̲h̲vābon̲ se dar lagtā hai / I’m Scared of Dreams
Tomorrow’s sun will look again on this threshold,
Tomorrow, too, my begging bowl will be filled by evening;
Tomorrow’s creation will again be this single bit of barley bread;
Tomorrow will also pass like every other day.
.
Sleep comes when the fire of hunger is put out;
When sleep comes, it shows me some dreams;
In the dreams, some people meet me again, are separated, go off;
Memory of them torments me increasingly from time to time.
.
Tomorrow again I’ll go and search them in the streets and lanes;
Tomorrow again I’ll find so many bodies of those dreams;
Tomorrow again they’ll change as soon as I touch them;
Tomorrow again they’ll throw so many stones at me.
.
Tonight, sleep will not come to me.
Tonight, I am frightened of dreams.
1961
.
From: Nayā ʻahdnāmah (New Testament). ʻAlīgaṛh: ʻAlīgaṛh Buk Hāʼūs, 1965. pp. 125 – 26
Tomorrow’s sun will look again on this threshold,
Tomorrow, too, my begging bowl will be filled by evening;
Tomorrow’s creation will again be this single bit of barley bread;
Tomorrow will also pass like every other day.
.
Sleep comes when the fire of hunger is put out;
When sleep comes, it shows me some dreams;
In the dreams, some people meet me again, are separated, go off;
Memory of them torments me increasingly from time to time.
.
Tomorrow again I’ll go and search them in the streets and lanes;
Tomorrow again I’ll find so many bodies of those dreams;
Tomorrow again they’ll change as soon as I touch them;
Tomorrow again they’ll throw so many stones at me.
.
Tonight, sleep will not come to me.
Tonight, I am frightened of dreams.
1961
.
From: Nayā ʻahdnāmah (New Testament). ʻAlīgaṛh: ʻAlīgaṛh Buk Hāʼūs, 1965. pp. 125 – 26
Leave A Comment