This poem was translated by Professor Carlo Coppola as part of the MULOSIGE Translations project. You can explore our collection of Urdu Poetry here.
Jab terī samandar ānkhon̲ men̲ / When, in Your Ocean-Eyes (Gīt / Song)
This shore of the sun, where at evening
When day and night meet—
Not night, not day; neither today nor tomorrow,
Eternal for a moment; in a moment, smoke—
On this shore of the sun for a moment
Or two lips burning,
Arms with jingling bangles;
This, our meeting, neither a lie nor truth.
Why complain? Why blame?
Why lie?
When, in your ocean eyes
This evening sun will sink,
Those at home will sleep peacefully
And the passer-by will set out on his way.
.
From London ∙ 1963
.
From: Dast-i tah-yi sang (Hand Beneath the Stone). Dihlī: ʻAlīgaṛh: Ejūkeshanal Buk Hāʼūs, 1979. pp. 65 -66
Jab terī samandar ānkhon̲ men̲ is quoted in full in Urdu Poetry, 1935-1970
This shore of the sun, where at evening
When day and night meet—
Not night, not day; neither today nor tomorrow,
Eternal for a moment; in a moment, smoke—
On this shore of the sun for a moment
Or two lips burning,
Arms with jingling bangles;
This, our meeting, neither a lie nor truth.
Why complain? Why blame?
Why lie?
When, in your ocean eyes
This evening sun will sink,
Those at home will sleep peacefully
And the passer-by will set out on his way.
.
From London ∙ 1963
.
From: Dast-i tah-yi sang (Hand Beneath the Stone). Dihlī: ʻAlīgaṛh: Ejūkeshanal Buk Hāʼūs, 1979. pp. 65 -66
Jab terī samandar ānkhon̲ men̲ is quoted in full in Urdu Poetry, 1935-1970
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