This poem was translated by Professor Carlo Coppola as part of the MULOSIGE Translations project. You can explore our collection of Urdu Poetry here.
Manẓar o pasmanẓar / Landscape and Background
Scars of feeling burn
Lamps light up in the mind
Night is heavy, like a mountain
The whole universe, silent
When a tear sprouts from the eyelashes
Earth’s stagnation breaks up
The cascade of a waterfall
Wind sings in the trees
Stars bathing in the lake
Burn the water
Fireflies have scattered in the valleys
Landing in the foliage
As if carrying ruined jungles in our eyes
We are shattered by weariness
Glances are overlaid by nights
And grope for the road for centuries
The landscape insists we smile
But from where should we bring moisture to our lips?
.
August 1953
From: Dasht-i vafā (Desert of Fidelity), 2012. pp 30 – 31
With Munibur Rahman
Scars of feeling burn
Lamps light up in the mind
Night is heavy, like a mountain
The whole universe, silent
When a tear sprouts from the eyelashes
Earth’s stagnation breaks up
The cascade of a waterfall
Wind sings in the trees
Stars bathing in the lake
Burn the water
Fireflies have scattered in the valleys
Landing in the foliage
As if carrying ruined jungles in our eyes
We are shattered by weariness
Glances are overlaid by nights
And grope for the road for centuries
The landscape insists we smile
But from where should we bring moisture to our lips?
.
August 1953
From: Dasht-i vafā (Desert of Fidelity), 2012. pp 30 – 31
With Munibur Rahman
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