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

Jhūṭ / Lie

This earth 

is like a cellar. 

Our reality: 

we are 

useless, marginal, 

sent down 

from heaven. 

Whatever’s written in 

The Book 

is all a lie.

.

From:  Āk̲h̲irī din kī talāsh (Search for the Last Day). Allāhābād: Shabk̲h̲ūn Kitāb G̲h̲ar, 1968. p. 41

             

This earth 

is like a cellar. 

Our reality: 

we are 

useless, marginal, 

sent down 

from heaven. 

Whatever’s written in 

The Book 

is all a lie.

.

From:  Āk̲h̲irī din kī talāsh (Search for the Last Day). Allāhābād: Shabk̲h̲ūn Kitāb G̲h̲ar, 1968. p. 41