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

Āg kī āg̲h̲osh men̲ / In Fire’s Embrace

She says: Time is a dry branch which burns

My body also burns.

My heart, hanging on a dry branch, burns

The whole age is being consumed in burning fire

Yes, the body, soul, the heart are hanging on a dry branch 

They burn.

.

Earth and heaven burn.

She says: Yes,

Yes, nothing but fire, fire everywhere,

And we burn in the desire to burn.

.

Desires hanging on a dry branch burn;

My body, my heart, yes—

Time, yes—time too

Burns burning.

She says: Yes,

They’re burning!

.

From: Dard kā shahr (City of Suffering). Lāhaur: Naʼī maṭbūʻāt. 1965. p. 50

             

She says: Time is a dry branch which burns

My body also burns.

My heart, hanging on a dry branch, burns

The whole age is being consumed in burning fire

Yes, the body, soul, the heart are hanging on a dry branch 

They burn.

.

Earth and heaven burn.

She says: Yes,

Yes, nothing but fire, fire everywhere,

And we burn in the desire to burn.

.

Desires hanging on a dry branch burn;

My body, my heart, yes—

Time, yes—time too

Burns burning.

She says: Yes,

They’re burning!

.

From: Dard kā shahr (City of Suffering). Lāhaur: Naʼī maṭbūʻāt. 1965. p. 50