Wednesday, January 6, 2021

Faiz Ahmed Faiz: three poems

 Friends, Here are three poems by Faiz Ahmed Faiz (1911-1984) translated by me. One of these was written in Punjabi and addressed to Punjabi farmers. The other two have been translated from Urdu, and are among his best known poems. The poems are presented in Devanagri script followed by my English translations. The poem addressed to the Punjabi farmer has also been presented in Gurmukhi script.

The poem Tanhaai seems to have some similarities with or reflection of Walter de la Mare's two poems presented after the three poems. Is the similarity incidental? Remember Faiz was a student and then teacher of English literature in the pre-partition India. Walter de la Mare (1873-1956) belonged to a group of poets named Georgian poets majority of whom flourished in the first two decades of the twentieth century. I imagine Faiz must have read Walter de la Mare. But his great poem has a cultural, metaphorical and contextual originality and scintillating rhythm all its own.

The other two poems, 'Today, Come to the Marketplace in Fetters and 'A Song for the Punjabi Farmer' are revolutionary in intent. 


1.

तनहा

फिर कोई आया दिल--ज़ार नहीं कोई नहीं
राहरौ होगा, कहीं और चला जायेगा
ढल चुकी रात, बिखरने लगा तारों का ग़ुबार
लड़खड़ाने लगे ऐवानों में ख़्वाबीदः चिराग़
सो गई रस्तः तक-तक के हरइक राहगुज़ार
अजनबी ख़ाक ने धुँदला दिये क़दमों के सुराग़
गुल करो शम्‍एँ, बढ़ा दो मय--मीना--अयाग़
अपने बे-ख़्वाब किवाड़ों को मुक़फ़्फ़ल कर लो
अब यहाँ कोई नहीं, कोई नहीं आयेगा

                           ---

                     

 Loneliness

 

Did someone come, sad heart? No, no one

Must be a traveler, bound for somewhere

The night has melted, the stardust is fading

In the mansions the sleepy lamps are wearing out

Pathways have gone to sleep ‒ waiting, waiting…

The unwitting dust has buried the stamp of footsteps

Blow out the lamps, put away the wine, the cup, the goblet

Lock the doors of your sleepless eyes

No one, no one will come here now

                            ---               

 2.

आज बाज़ार में पा--जौलाँ चलो

चश्मे-नम जाने-शोरीदा काफ़ी नहीं
तोहमते-इश्क़ पोशीदा काफ़ी नहीं
आज बाज़ार में पा-ब-जौलाँ चलो
दस्त-अफ्शाँ चलो, मस्तो-रक़्साँ चलो
ख़ाक़-बर-सर चलो, ख़ूँ-ब-दामाँ चलो
राह तकता है सब शहरे-जानाँ चलो
हाकिमे-शहर भी, मजम'ए-आम भी
तीरे-इल्ज़ाम भी, संगे-दुश्नाम भी
सुबहे-नाशाद भी, रोज़े-नाकाम भी
इनका दमसाज़ अपने सिवा कौन है
शहरे-जानाँ में अब बा-सफ़ा कौन है
दस्त-ए-क़ातिल के शायाँ रहा कौन है
रख़्ते-दिल बाँध लो दिलफ़िगारो चलो
फिर हमीं क़त्ल हो आएँ यारो चलो
आज बाज़ार में पा-ब-जौलाँ चलो

                 ---

 

 Today, Come to the Marketplace in Fetters

 

Not enough the wet eyes, the angst-ridden life

Not enough the accusations of secret love

Today, come to the marketplace in fetters

 

Come waving your hands, in a drunken dance

Come with dust-laden heads, blood-stained clothes

Come, the beloved city is watching:

 

The city’s hakim, the crowds of people too

The arrows of accusation, the stones of abuse too

The disconsolate morn, the failed day too

 

Who besides us is there to befriend them?

Who now is trustworthy in this beloved city?

Who now is beyond the assassin’s reach?

 

Firm up your heavy hearts, o wounded hearts, come

Come, friends, to let ourselves be murdered

Today, come to the marketplace in fetters

 

                                        ---

 3.


 

ਇਕ ਤਰਾਨਾ ਪੰਜਾਬੀ ਕਿਸਾਨ ਦੇ ਲਈ

ਉੱਠ ਉਤਾਂਹ ਨੂੰ ਜੱਟਾ
ਮਰਦਾ ਕਿਉਂ ਜਾਨੈਂ
ਭੁਲਿਆ, ਤੂੰ ਜਗ ਦਾ ਅੰਨਦਾਤਾ
ਤੇਰੀ ਬਾਂਦੀ ਧਰਤੀ ਮਾਤਾ
ਤੂੰ ਜਗ ਦਾ ਪਾਲਣ ਹਾਰਾ
ਤੇ ਮਰਦਾ ਕਿਉਂ ਜਾਨੈਂ
ਉੱਠ ਉਤਾਂਹ ਨੂੰ ਜੱਟਾ
ਮਰਦਾ ਕਿਉਂ ਜਾਨੈਂ

ਜਰਨਲ, ਕਰਨਲ, ਸੂਬੇਦਾਰ
ਡਿਪਟੀ, ਡੀ ਸੀ, ਥਾਨੇਦਾਰ
ਸਾਰੇ ਤੇਰਾ ਦਿੱਤਾ ਖਾਵਣ
ਤੂੰ ਜੇ ਨਾ ਬੀਜੇਂ, ਤੂੰ ਜੇ ਨਾ ਗਾਹਵੇਂ
ਭੁੱਖੇ, ਭਾਣੇ ਸਭ ਮਰ ਜਾਵਣ
ਇਹ ਚਾਕਰ, ਤੂੰ ਸਰਕਾਰ
ਮਰਦਾ ਕਿਉਂ ਜਾਨੈਂ
ਉੱਠ ਉਤਾਂਹ ਨੂੰ ਜੱਟਾ
ਮਰਦਾ ਕਿਉਂ ਜਾਨੈਂ

ਵਿਚ ਕਚਹਰੀ, ਚੁੰਗੀ, ਥਾਣੇ
ਕੀਹ ਅਨਭੋਲ ਤੇ ਕੀਹ ਸਿਆਣੇ
ਕੀਹ ਅਸਰਾਫ਼ ਤੇ ਕੀਹ ਨਿਮਾਣੇ
ਸਾਰੇ ਖੱਜਲ ਖ਼ਵਾਰ
ਮਰਦਾ ਕਿਉਂ ਜਾਨੈਂ
ਉੱਠ ਉਤਾਂਹ ਨੂੰ ਜੱਟਾ

ਏਕਾ ਕਰ ਲੋ ਹੋ ਜੋ ਕੱਠੇ
ਭੁੱਲ ਜੋ ਰੰਘੜ, ਚੀਮੇ, ਚੱਠੇ
ਸੱਭੇ ਦਾ ਇਕ ਪਰਵਾਰ
ਮਰਦਾ ਕਿਉਂ ਜਾਨੈਂ

ਜੇ ਚੜ੍ਹ ਆਵਣ ਫ਼ੌਜਾਂ ਵਾਲੇ
ਤੂੰ ਵੀ ਛਵੀਆਂ ਲੰਬ ਕਰਾ ਲੈ
ਤੇਰਾ ਹਕ ਤੇਰੀ ਤਲਵਾਰ
ਮਰਦਾ ਕਿਉਂ ਜਾਨੈਂ

ਦੇ 'ਅੱਲ੍ਹਾ ਹੂ' ਦੀ ਮਾਰ
ਤੂੰ ਮਰਦਾ ਕਿਉਂ ਜਾਨੈਂ
ਉੱਠ ਉਤਾਂਹ ਨੂੰ ਜੱਟਾ


A Song for the Punjabi Farmer

               

By Faiz Ahmed Faiz

 

(Translated from Punjabi by TC Ghai)

 

Stand straight up, O Jatta

Why this listlessness?

Forgetting you’re the food giver to the world!

Mother Earth is your bondsmaiden

You are the world’s life sustainer

Why do you lie listless?

Stand straight up, O Jatta

Generals, colonels, subedars

Deputies, DCs, Thanedars –

All eat what you grow

If you didn’t sow, if you didn’t harvest

They all would die of starvation

Why this listlessness?

Stand straight up, O Jatta

In the court, at the octroi post, at the police station

Whether ignorant or wise

Whether high or low

All suffer alike

Why this listlessness?

Stand straight up, O Jatta

Unite and come together

Forget who is a Rangad, Cheema, or Chatha

All are one family

If they send armies after you

Sharpen your choppers

Your right, your sword

Why this listlessness?

Strike fear of Allah in them

Why do you lie listless?

Stand straight up, O Jatta

            ---

Two poems by Walter de la Mare


Alone

Walter de la Mare

 

The abode of the nightingale is bare,
Flowered frost congeals in the gelid air,
The fox howls from his frozen lair:
Alas, my loved one is gone,
I am alone:
It is winter.

Once the pink cast a winy smell,
The wild bee hung in the hyacinth bell,
Light in effulgence of beauty fell:
I am alone:
It is winter.

My candle a silent fire doth shed,
Starry Orion hunts o'erhead;
Come moth, come shadow, the world is dead:
Alas, my loved one is gone,
I am alone;
It is winter.

---

 

Some One

 

Walter de la Mare

 

Some one came knocking
At my wee, small door;
Someone came knocking;
I'm sure-sure-sure;
I listened, I opened,
I looked to left and right,
But nought there was a stirring
In the still dark night;
Only the busy beetle
Tap-tapping in the wall,
Only from the forest
The screech-owl's call,
Only the cricket whistling
While the dewdrops fall,
So I know not who came knocking,
At all, at all, at all.

---