Shaam
May 23, 2008 at 6:42 am blackmamba 8 comments
Faiz Ahmed Faiz
is tarah hai ke har ek peR ko’ii mandir hai
ko’ii ujRaa huaa, benuur puraanaa mandir
DhuunDtaa hai jo Kharaabii ke bahaane kab se
chaak har baam, har ek dar kaa dam-e-aaKhir hai
aasmaaN ko’ii purohit hai jo har baam tale
jism par raaKh male, maathe pe sinduur male
sar-niguuN baithaa hai chup-chaap na jaane kab se
is tarah hai ke pas-e-pardaa ko’ii saahir hai
jis ne aafaaq pe phailaayaa hai yuN seh’r ka daam
daaman-e-vaqt se paivast hai yuN daamna-e-shaam
ab kabhii shaam bujhegii na andheraa hogaa
ab kabhii raat Dhalegii na saveraa hogaa
aasmaaN aas liye hai ke ye jaaduu TuuTe
chup ki zanjiir kaTe, vaqt kaa daaman chhuTe
de ko’ii shanKh duhayii, ko’ii paayal bole
ko’ii but jaage, ko’ii saaNvlii ghuuNGhat khole
Translation by Agha Shahid Ali
Evening
The trees are dark ruins of temples,
seeking excuses to tremble
since who knows when–
their roofs are cracked,
their doors lost to ancient winds.
And the sky is a priest,
saffron marks on his forehead,
ashes smeared on his body.
He sits by the temples, worn to a shadow, not looking up.
Some terrible magician, hidden behind curtains,
has hypnotized Time
so this evening is a net
in which the twilight is caught.
Now darkness will never come–
and there will never be morning.
The sky waits for this spell to be broken,
for history to tear itself from this net,
for Silence to break its chains
so that a symphony of conch shells
may wake up to the statues
and a beautiful, dark goddess,
her anklets echoing, may unveil herself.
(from The Rebel’s Silhouette)
[blackmamba]
Entry filed under: Agha Shahid Ali, Black Mamba, English, Faiz Ahmed Faiz, Urdu.
8 Comments Add your own
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1. Morpheus | June 7, 2008 at 8:27 pm
its beautiful..
2. shishu chandam | June 16, 2008 at 10:44 am
that’s a nice line…… nd i hope that whose see this line he will be impressed for this………
3. Ravi Kopra | July 8, 2008 at 7:31 pm
Another translation at
http://whitewings.sulekha.com/blog/post/2008/07/tanhaai-an-urdu-poem-of-faiz-ahmed-faiz-in-english.htm
4. spiritual_emergency | July 23, 2008 at 3:09 pm
Resonating. Lovely poem. Lovely site. I’ve bookmarked it.
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5. Ravi Kopra | August 7, 2008 at 4:42 pm
Another translation at
http://whitewings.sulekha.com/blog/post/2008/08/evening-an-urdu-poem-of-faiz-ahmed-faiz-in-english.htm
6. sudha | September 11, 2008 at 6:44 am
oh i love agha shahid ali ..
7. Arka | November 15, 2008 at 7:25 am
Would you by any chance have the original of the poem that shahid ali translated as ‘an evening in prison’? the one that starts with ‘each star is a rung/ night comes down the spiral staircase of the evening…’. Could you please, please put it up?
8. Sandhya | December 29, 2010 at 7:44 pm
will you please translate Faiz’s “Koi aashik kisi mehbooba se”? I want to share it with my non urdu speaking family and you translate with such soul…. bless you!