Feb 11, 2011

A poem by Noon Meem Rashid

ज़िंदगी से डरते हो!
ज़िंदगी तो तुम भी हो ज़िंदगी तो हम भी हैं!
ज़िंदगी से डरते हो?
आदमी से डरते हो
आदमी तो तुम भी हो आदमी तो हम भी हैं
आदमी ज़बाँ भी है आदमी बयाँ भी है
उस से तुम नहीं डरते!
हर्फ़ और मअनी के रिश्ता-हा-ए-आहन से आदमी है वाबस्ता
आदमी के दामन से ज़िंदगी है वाबस्ता
उस से तुम नहीं डरते
''अन-कही'' से डरते हो
जो अभी नहीं आई उस घड़ी से डरते हो
उस घड़ी की आमद की आगही से डरते हो
पहले भी तो गुज़रे हैं
दौर ना-रसाई के ''बे-रिया'' ख़ुदाई के
फिर भी ये समझते हो हेच आरज़ू-मंदी
ये शब-ए-ज़बाँ-बंदी है रह-ए-ख़ुदा-वंदी
तुम मगर ये क्या जानो
लब अगर नहीं हिलते हाथ जाग उठते हैं
हाथ जाग उठते हैं राह का निशाँ बन कर
नूर की ज़बाँ बन कर
हाथ बोल उठते हैं सुब्ह की अज़ाँ बन कर
रौशनी से डरते हो
रौशनी तो तुम भी हो रौशनी तो हम भी हैं
रौशनी से डरते हो
शहर की फ़सीलों पर
देव का जो साया था पाक हो गया आख़िर
रात का लिबादा भी
चाक हो गया आख़िर ख़ाक हो गया आख़िर
इज़्दिहाम-ए-इंसाँ से फ़र्द की नवा आई
ज़ात की सदा आई
राह-ए-शौक़ में जैसे राह-रौ का ख़ूँ लपके
इक नया जुनूँ लपके
आदमी छलक उट्ठे
आदमी हँसे देखो शहर फिर बसे देखो
तुम अभी से डरते हो?
हाँ अभी तो तुम भी हो
हाँ अभी तो हम भी हैं
तुम अभी से डरते हो

English Translation

And you are afraid of life?
But, you too are life
We too are life

And you are afraid of humanity?
But, you too are human
We too are human

Man is word, and
Man is meaning
To the iron bond
Uniting word and meaning
Man is connected
Life itself is tied to his sleeves

Of this, being unaware, you are not afraid.

Afraid of the unsaid
Afraid of the moment that has not yet arrived
Afraid of even the awareness of the coming of that moment

We have seen the consequences
Before
Of remaining aloof
Of a seemingly guileless divinity
And yet you believe
That to desire is worthless
That this night of silenced tongues
Is the noble path to salvation

How will you know though
That if those lips don’t move
One's arms begin to stir
One's hands begin to call
As the shining lights in the night
As the voice of heavens
Like the voice from the temple at dawn

But you are afraid of Light?
Remember, you too are a light
We too are a light

What was earlier only a shadow of the prophets
It finally became holy
A new light, a new wind, a new message was in the air

As in the journey of love
The traveler’s blood soars
A new passion leaps
Man is consumed with it
And he laughs, look!
The city is reborn in love

You are alive, and so are we.
Still you are afraid?

---Noon Meem Rashid

Feb 7, 2011

Unadikum ( I Call on You )

I call on you
I clasp your hands
I kiss the ground under your feet
And I say: I offer my life for yours
I give you the light of my eyes
as a present
and the warmth of my heart
The tragedy I live
is but my share of your tragedies
I call on you
I clasp your hands
I was not humiliated in my homeland
Nor was I diminished
I stood up to my oppressors
orphaned, nude, and barefoot
I carried my blood in my palm
I never lowered my flags
I guarded the green grass
over my ancestor’s graves
I call on you
I clasp your hands

---Tawfiq Zayyad (1929-1994)

The Will of Life

“If, one day, a people desires to live, then fate will answer their call.

And their night will then begin to fade, and their chains break and fall.

For he who is not embraced by a passion for life will dissipate into thin air,

At least that is what all creation has told me, and what its hidden spirits declare…”

---Abu al-Qasim al-Shabi. Translated by Elliott Colla.

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If the people will to live
Providence is destined to favourably respond
And night is destined to fold
And the chains are certain to be broken

And he who has not embraced the love of life
Will evaporate in its atmosphere and disappear.

--- Abu al-Qasim al-Shabi. Translated by As’ad Abu Khalil.