This poem was translated by Professor Carlo Coppola as part of the MULOSIGE Translations project. You can explore our collection of Urdu Poetry here.
Āgahī / Insight
As a schoolboy, I knew every philosophy—everything.
From a pulpit I would preach for hours, on emperors, old and new,
Of their happy tales, their bitter ones too, their glaring crimes
Numbered on the pages of Time,
Their orders, their laws, the sayings of philosophers, the messages of
Great orators now quoted by the worldly-wise;
Art, its ins and outs,
God’s injunctions, His commands
Distorted by the sons of priests; earth’s elements, on all such things.
People thought me an ocean
Of all knowledge! Everyone sought me out.
But suddenly—what happened? I now feel
As if I just woke from a deep sleep, unable to move,
Sitting on a lonely shore, my head bent down.
.
How clever this insight that came at the end of day.
.
From: Yāden̲ (Remembrances), 1963. pp. 213 – 14
As a schoolboy, I knew every philosophy—everything.
From a pulpit I would preach for hours, on emperors, old and new,
Of their happy tales, their bitter ones too, their glaring crimes
Numbered on the pages of Time,
Their orders, their laws, the sayings of philosophers, the messages of
Great orators now quoted by the worldly-wise;
Art, its ins and outs,
God’s injunctions, His commands
Distorted by the sons of priests; earth’s elements, on all such things.
People thought me an ocean
Of all knowledge! Everyone sought me out.
But suddenly—what happened? I now feel
As if I just woke from a deep sleep, unable to move,
Sitting on a lonely shore, my head bent down.
.
How clever this insight that came at the end of day.
.
From: Yāden̲ (Remembrances), 1963. pp. 213 – 14
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