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

Terī āvāz / Your Voice

Night was desolate, the atmosphere’s breath heavy;

Shadows of nameless sorrows hung over my soul;

My heart insisted you come to comfort me;

My thought was that I, a wretch, might fall asleep.

.

For a long time, the starlight pricked my eyes; 

For a long time, my mind smouldered in loneliness; 

But you didn’t come the whole night 

To ask about your spurned friend.

.

Suddenly your voice came from somewhere

As the waterfall would burst forth rending the mountain’s heart;

Or, restless for the love of the earth suddenly,

A daring star would shoot from the sky.

.

Money was dissolved in the bitter potion of loneliness; 

A color spread in the dark chamber of the heart; 

For a long time, your drunken voices kept echoing 

Like buds bursting out into flowers in the wilderness.

.

You were far away in some happy gathering;

Even then I felt as if you had come to me

And, prevailing upon my lost dreams, my estranged sleep

Has brought them back concealed in your songs.

.

On night’s surface emerged the lines of your face: 

The same quiet eyes, the same simple glance, 

The same fallen veil, the same swirl of the gait, 

The same delicate form swaying every now and then.

.

You’re not with me and yet till dawn 

Each of your breaths passed by touching my body; 

When I’d see you, dew would drip drop by drop; 

Each moment passed by, fragrant with your scent.

.

Now, if this is what you want, then, O soul of my peace,

I won’t wait for you in the dark night!

My craving eyes will seek you out

In the surging rains of song and poetry!

.

Now whenever your love torments me, my life

Will dissolve into your intoxicated voice,

And the soul, restless for you,

Will become a song and quiver upon your lips.

.

Your songs, absorbing the coolness of your beauty! 

Will come into my fiery surroundings 

And, whether for a few moments or forever, 

Will put my restless night to sleep.

.

From: Kulliyāt-i sāḥir (Complete Works of Sahir). Dihlī: Nāz Pablishing Hā’ūs. 1995. pp. 147 – 50

             

Night was desolate, the atmosphere’s breath heavy;

Shadows of nameless sorrows hung over my soul;

My heart insisted you come to comfort me;

My thought was that I, a wretch, might fall asleep.

.

For a long time, the starlight pricked my eyes; 

For a long time, my mind smouldered in loneliness; 

But you didn’t come the whole night 

To ask about your spurned friend.

.

Suddenly your voice came from somewhere

As the waterfall would burst forth rending the mountain’s heart;

Or, restless for the love of the earth suddenly,

A daring star would shoot from the sky.

.

Money was dissolved in the bitter potion of loneliness; 

A color spread in the dark chamber of the heart; 

For a long time, your drunken voices kept echoing 

Like buds bursting out into flowers in the wilderness.

.

You were far away in some happy gathering;

Even then I felt as if you had come to me

And, prevailing upon my lost dreams, my estranged sleep

Has brought them back concealed in your songs.

.

On night’s surface emerged the lines of your face: 

The same quiet eyes, the same simple glance, 

The same fallen veil, the same swirl of the gait, 

The same delicate form swaying every now and then.

.

You’re not with me and yet till dawn 

Each of your breaths passed by touching my body; 

When I’d see you, dew would drip drop by drop; 

Each moment passed by, fragrant with your scent.

.

Now, if this is what you want, then, O soul of my peace,

I won’t wait for you in the dark night!

My craving eyes will seek you out

In the surging rains of song and poetry!

.

Now whenever your love torments me, my life

Will dissolve into your intoxicated voice,

And the soul, restless for you,

Will become a song and quiver upon your lips.

.

Your songs, absorbing the coolness of your beauty! 

Will come into my fiery surroundings 

And, whether for a few moments or forever, 

Will put my restless night to sleep.

.

From: Kulliyāt-i sāḥir (Complete Works of Sahir). Dihlī: Nāz Pablishing Hā’ūs. 1995. pp. 147 – 50