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.
तनहाई
फिर कोई आया दिल-ए-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-ओ-मीना-ओ-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-ब-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.
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.
---
