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

Āk̲h̲irī sāns / Last Breath

When the candle flame took its last breath

Towards the end of the night,

Dew began to drop from the eyes;

The waking dust of the road

Shifted from one side to other?

Night began to sleep;

Silence became a song.

The impressions of sleepless feet began to walk;

Somewhere the present and past rubbed their eyes

And the signs of the destination were left shrieking.

.

From: Ism-i aʻẓam (Name of the Greatest [God]). ʻAlīʹgaṛh: Inḍiyan Buk Hāʻūs, 1965. p. 16

             

When the candle flame took its last breath

Towards the end of the night,

Dew began to drop from the eyes;

The waking dust of the road

Shifted from one side to other?

Night began to sleep;

Silence became a song.

The impressions of sleepless feet began to walk;

Somewhere the present and past rubbed their eyes

And the signs of the destination were left shrieking.

.

From: Ism-i aʻẓam (Name of the Greatest [God]). ʻAlīʹgaṛh: Inḍiyan Buk Hāʻūs, 1965. p. 16