This poem was translated by Professor Carlo Coppola as part of the MULOSIGE Translations project. You can explore our collection of Urdu Poetry here.
Vafā se vaʻdah nahīn̲ / No keeping of promises
No keeping of promises, nor even another promise made;
She had been angry at me with a lover’s rage, but not like this.
.
The wealth of beauty is raining in the House of Lust;
Not even a look into the begging bowl of Love’s beggar.
.
God only knows why I am waiting hopefully
On a road which is not even yours.
.
O glance of eagerness! Don’t become naked before the assembly;
She may be very unaware, but not so unaware as that.
.
Why the hell this: the beloved’s vow to abandon love;
Peace of mind is neither here with me nor there with her.
.
From: Naqsh-i faryādī (Image of the Supplicant). Dihlī: Urdū Ghar, 1941.pp. 67- 86
No keeping of promises, nor even another promise made;
She had been angry at me with a lover’s rage, but not like this.
.
The wealth of beauty is raining in the House of Lust;
Not even a look into the begging bowl of Love’s beggar.
.
God only knows why I am waiting hopefully
On a road which is not even yours.
.
O glance of eagerness! Don’t become naked before the assembly;
She may be very unaware, but not so unaware as that.
.
Why the hell this: the beloved’s vow to abandon love;
Peace of mind is neither here with me nor there with her.
.
From: Naqsh-i faryādī (Image of the Supplicant). Dihlī: Urdū Ghar, 1941.pp. 67- 86
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