This poem was translated by Professor Carlo Coppola as part of the MULOSIGE Translations project. You can explore our collection of Urdu Poetry here.
Bol / Speak
Speak, for your lips are free!
Speak! Your tongue,
Your body,
Your life are all still yours!
Look! In the blacksmith shop,
The flames are fierce, the iron red-hot;
The clutches of the locks break open,
Each chain link is split wide.
Speak, for time before the death of body and tongue
Is short.
Speak, for Truth lives!
Speak what must be said!
.
With C. M. Naim
.
From: Naqsh-i faryādī (Image of the Supplicant). Dihlī: Urdū Ghar, 1941. pp. 83 – 84
Bol is quoted in full in Urdu Poetry, 1935-1970
Speak, for your lips are free!
Speak! Your tongue,
Your body,
Your life are all still yours!
Look! In the blacksmith shop,
The flames are fierce, the iron red-hot;
The clutches of the locks break open,
Each chain link is split wide.
Speak, for time before the death of body and tongue
Is short.
Speak, for Truth lives!
Speak what must be said!
.
With C. M. Naim
.
From: Naqsh-i faryādī (Image of the Supplicant). Dihlī: Urdū Ghar, 1941. pp. 83 – 84
Bol is quoted in full in Urdu Poetry, 1935-1970
Leave A Comment