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

Falast̤īnī shuhadā’ jo pardes men kām ā’e / Palestinian Martyrs Who Were Slain in Foreign Lands

When I go out in the world, beloved land,

The pain of your abasement enflames my heart.

But there are rewards: Your dignity enhances mine,

Your love walks with me;

Your citrus-groves fragrance my mouth;

Friends I’ve never met go with me;

Their hands I’ve never clasped make mine invincible.

Far away on indifferent foreign highways

Or in unfamiliar streets of alien cities,

Wherever I unfurl the banner of my blood,

There waves Palestine’s flag.

Enemies have destroyed one Palestine

But my agony has given birth to countless Palestines.

            Beirut ∙  1980

.

From: Mere dil mere musāfir (My Heart, My Traveller). Karāci: Maktabah-yi Dāniyāl. 1981. pp. 61 – 62

             

When I go out in the world, beloved land,

The pain of your abasement enflames my heart.

But there are rewards: Your dignity enhances mine,

Your love walks with me;

Your citrus-groves fragrance my mouth;

Friends I’ve never met go with me;

Their hands I’ve never clasped make mine invincible.

Far away on indifferent foreign highways

Or in unfamiliar streets of alien cities,

Wherever I unfurl the banner of my blood,

There waves Palestine’s flag.

Enemies have destroyed one Palestine

But my agony has given birth to countless Palestines.

            Beirut ∙  1980

.

From: Mere dil mere musāfir (My Heart, My Traveller). Karāci: Maktabah-yi Dāniyāl. 1981. pp. 61 – 62