Translations - Others (poem) by Salman Ali on AuthorsDen

Translations - Others
by Salman Ali → (All Poetry by Salman Ali)
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Poet of a moment or two………………… I am a poet of a moment or two, momentary is tale of mine A fleeting moment is my existence, a momentary spell is youth of mine Countless poets preceded me, they came, they departed Some left with a heavy heart, some went more delighted They were also a story of a moment, I am also a tale of a moment Tomorrow I’ll have to detach from you, though today I am a part of you More will come tomorrow, to shower the blossoming petals of their poetry They will be better tellers than me, listeners will appreciate them more I managed to say something in this moment or two, that’s enough bliss for me You listened to me for a moment or two, that’s enough kindliness for me (Sahir Ludhianvi) Sometimes……………….. Sometimes in my heart, I wonder… That if I could spend my life with you, it could have blossomed, Bloomed under the cooling shades of your dark tresses, And this bleakness which have become the fate of my existence Could well have been alleviated by your warm caresses. Would that I could lose my self, away from worldly woes Lost in your world of beauty, Beatific and beatified. In your warm embrace, in your lotus eyes of grace I would have spent my life hypnotized. When the world’s bitterness beckoned and agitated me From your sweet lips I could drink deep. World could throw its challenge unabashed for me, Under your friendly tresses, a refuge I would keep. But all that could not happen, and now the situation is, You are not around, nor your sorrow, nor desire. The life is ticking by in such a way, That it doesn’t have any desire for having anyone else. I have embraced the woes of world indeed, I am trekking tracks that are unbeknown. Dismal shadows, on their own, threateningly proceed, In my direction, to disown, from the twilight zone. Niether any track, nor destination, or a ray of light, My life is straggling aimless, rudderless in the void. I shall soon be lost in these voids, I know my beloved, But Sometimes in my heart, I wonder…………..…….. (Sahir Ludhianvi) Taj Mahal……………. The Taj, to you may seem, a symbol of love supreme You may hold this beauteous habitat in great esteem Yet my love, meet me hence at some other place. How odd for the poor folk to frequent royal resorts ‘Tis strange that the amorous souls should tread the regal paths Trodden once by mighty kings and their proud consorts. Behind the facade of love, my dear, you had better seen, The marks of imperial might that herein lie screen’d You who take delight in tombs of kings deceased, Should have seen the hutments dark, where you and I did wean. Countless people in this world have loved each other, Who would say their loves weren’t truthful or strong? But they were without the means to blow their trumpet of devotion For them too, like you and me, belonged to the common throng. The edifices, the mausoleums, the ramparts so benign These are the manifestations of aristocracy’s grand design On the face of earth are they unearthly ancient eyesore They are built on our ancestors’ very blood and bones. They too must have loved, my love, whose hands had made, This marble monument, nicely chiseled and shaped But their dear ones lived and died, un-honoured, unknown, None burnt even a taper on their lowly graves. This garden manicured on Jamuna, this palatial abode This embellished dome and arch, beauty of line and mode An emperor, on the strength of wealth Has mocked the love of us humble folk O my beloved, meet me hence at some other place. (Sahir Ludhianvi) Wait…………………………… The moon is dim, the high sky silent, in the lap of sleep, the worlds lie silent. The milky clouds in far-off valley bow down and kiss the mounts, with unfulfilled desires in heart I wait and wait for you. Come today in the shade of this spring who knows how long love lasts, who knows if till tomorrow this life will remain merciful or not on the ones that you rejected. The stars, like all other days must not be lost in the dust of morning, come, for the eyes awake in your grief atleast get sleep for one night. The moon is dim, the high sky silent in the lap of sleep, the world lie silent. (Sahir Ludhianvi) --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Separation………………….. I left her door and thought as though she would call me back, not let me go; my heavy steps so paced as though she would call me back, not let me go; the wind so billowed through as though she would hold my garb, not let me go. She neither stopped, nor wished I stay; nor gave me a call, nor held my way; nor clenched my garb, nor had any say– I kept on faring slowly forward till I separated from her. (Kaifi Azmi) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Our City……………….. This city of ours is really strange: it whispers at night when you walk on the roads, it calls you to show its wounds as if the secrets of its heart. Its windows shut; alleys silent; walls dead tired; doors locked. In houses only the corpses have stayed on for years on rent. (Makhdoom Mohiuddin) ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Shadows………………… Such nights have also passed when your memory did not flare, pain quivered in the heart but no complaint did I share. Every sin appears to the fore like dark rocks in a row, there is neither a plea to break the rocks, nor seek release, not move to go. Such nights have also passed when on your ways, everywhere there were shadows, here and there, leaping up and down, down and up. You weren’t there, there were shadows like you, shadows in dance all about, I wasn’ there, there were shadows like me, shadows in tremor, shadows and shadows, shadows of pathways. Such nights have also passed when your memory did not flare. (Muhammad Deen Taseer) --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- In the Beginning of Winter Again…………….. The sunset elapsed by a while ago Just for a moment the reed-jungle trembled alike The odor of the green-grass of the same times The same ecstasy for the approaching of spring The same glory of the doors, rooftops, terraces – and I am The banks of the grey waters of the evening – and I am (Munir Niazi) ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Let me keep with me, the lights of your memories Who knows in which alley, falls the night on my life. (?) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Though hand can't even move, still eyes have some energy left to look Leave that wine cup and wine in front of me for a while more (Ghalib) --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- If you can't hear my voice Add an echo in it Echo of very old stories And in those stories A princess And in that princess your own beauty And in your own beauty heart of a lover And in the heart of that lover A dagger (Afzaal Ahmed Syed) --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I am thought of someone else Someone else is thinking me In the mirror is my image In front of mirror is someone else (?) ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Unaware were you of your actual friends Ignorant was I of my actual enemies Different was the event that occurred to you Different was the tragedy that happened to me (?) -------------------------------------------------------------------------- The season was for blooming when we fell like autumn leaves (Mazhar Laghari) ----------------------------------------------------------------------- O' my friend, if you meet my beloved Tell her, “there won’t be any moonlit-nights without you” Tell her, “if you want to come, come in my eclipsed-night As my nights won’t be any other way, without you” “Never will the doors of my heart be closed on you Come whenever you want These wet tears will always be here So you never feel that you won’t be welcomed” (Shaikh Ayaaz) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Incomplete………………… The moon mocked me for the loneliness of my heart Mocked me for the loneliness of my sky The stars kept looking at me satirizingly From closed eyes rivers broke their banks Your eyes, even when critical of me, I loved them Even your snubs always turned into flowers raining down on me Yes, now those days have gone away As from closed eyes rivers break their banks I remained incomplete, only incomplete Not even the morning sun could fully wake me up Nor the candle of our love snuffed out in my heart Neither could I rise like a darting flame Nor could I fall like the ash of a cigarette Smouldered, Burned, but incomplete, only incomplete I remained incomplete, only incomplete Even my heart failed to develop a comforting relationship with pains Even in peace, my heart couldn’t stay happy When I tried to laugh, the pains and troubles of others stopped me When I tried to cry, the looks of the people forbade me to cry Neither could I laugh in happiness, nor could I cry in sadness Cried, Laughed, but incomplete, only incomplete I remained incomplete, only incomplete I couldn’t even become eligible for the kiss of the gallows` noose I couldn’t even become good enough for conducting the worldly business Neither you became mine, nor could I become someone else’s So I lost this world too, I lost that world too I was deprived of the pleasure of dying too And kept on living incomplete, only incomplete I remained incomplete, only incomplete Neither could I abandon this material world Nor could I fulfill the requirements of this world Half my life was spent in endless worships The remaining half was spent on pulling down statues of false gods Neither could I reach God, nor even His world That’s how the whole of my life went wasted And in the deserts of my searching, I kept on wandering incomplete, only incomplete I remained incomplete, only incomplete. (Aakaash) ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- some more of my stuff is still with u few wet days of spring are lying there and a night is there , wrapped in one of my letters, turn that night off please and return all that stuff please........... there is some autumn isn't there??? feeble noise of dropping of leaves in autumn which keeps coming back to ears, and that branch of autumn which is still trembling, chop that branch down and return all the stuff please............. there is some more stuff lying there with you please send all that back to me as well, 116 nights of moon, one mole on your shoulder, frangrance of wet Hinna, all those false promises, return all that also please........... once , u might remember we were caught by a police officer for not having lights on our bicycle how we pretended to be hungry , thirsty and poor pitiful officer let go of us , giving us 50 cent donation instead 25 cents were mine return those please............. and once when we were under one umbrella in the rain , getting half wet, half wet and half dry, the dry half I have brought back with me, the other half, wet soul is lying near the bed perhaps return that too........... and when you return all the stuff just give me one permission, that when i'll bury all that stuff, I too, will sleep there (Gulzaar) --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- You who never arrived in my arms, Beloved, who were lost from the start, I don't even know what songs would please you. I have given up trying to recognize you in the surging wave of the next moment. All the immense images in me the far-off, deeply-felt landscape, cities, towers, and bridges, and un- suspected turns in the path, and those powerful lands that were once pulsing with the life of the gods all rise within me to mean you, who forever elude me. You, Beloved, who are all the gardens I have ever gazed at, longing. An open window in a country house , and you almost stepped out, pensive, to meet me. Streets that I chanced upon, you had just walked down them and vanished. And sometimes, in a shop, the mirrors were still dizzy with your presence and, startled, gave back my too-sudden image. Who knows? Perhaps the same bird echoed through both of us yesterday, separate, in the evening (Rilke) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ You live in lovely orbs.......... A Sphericality conscientiously holds your hair An ornate necklace truckles your neck The unfaltering watch is attached to your wrist A dainty belt embraces your waist Your feet are girdled in lace-up shoes to tread our earth I shall not mention the hidden orbs that might have you in their hold Allow them the advantage that is theirs In my mind in play I never undressed you You live in lovely orbs And I in tortuous lines How may I possibly serve you except fetch you in my mouth the ball that you kicked. (Afzaal Ahmed Syed)