Our martyred bodies, melting wax-like,

The candle of our country’s dawn sputtered through the night;

Through the night the moon-and-star forest shone. 

There was thirst but 

Even in thirst men and women 

Were intoxicated, waiting 

With the empty cups of thirsty eyes. 

All drunkenness ceased; no ecstasy. 

The night’s dazzling, flaming bodies

Became at daybreak sorrow’s wall, 

Grief’s field of thorns, 

And the throbbing blood in night’s veins 

Turned into a blood stream.

.

Some adept in deceit and cunning 

Have hissing snakes for breath, 

Black-hatred smoke for hearts; 

From an ambush

They unfurl their tongue-tips 

And suck away morning’s light-blood.

.

The dregs of night. Those of darkness too.

Faint dawn light.

Friends,

Hold one another’s hands;

.

Take the road to your destination, 

The destination of love,

The destination of the gallows,

The destination of the beloved’s lane.

Go carrying your crosses on your shoulders.

.

From: Bisāt̤-i raqṣ (Dance Carpet). Ḥaidarābād, Inḍiyā: Istiqbāliyah kameṭī jashn-i Mak̲h̲dūm, 1966. pp. 141 – 44

Cānd tāron̲ kā ban  is quoted in full in Urdu Poetry, 1935-1970