#translation: Urdu

[poems-from-around-the-world]

A Woman Is Laughing - Fahmida Riaz - Pakistan

Translator: Ankita Saxena (Urdu)

Under the singing watch of a rocky mountain a woman is laughing. No fame, no money but bold with the guts of a free body: a woman laughing.

In all the world’s temples, you will not hear the lush tremor of a woman laughing. In the market of all treasures, you will not find the baby balm of a woman laughing. This rare narcotic she bears so freely cannot be captive, sold.

Come then, become breeze. In the wild valley, lapping her face with kisses – hair flying long and loose, wind’s daughter is singing alongside the wind: a woman is laughing.

[midnightorchids]

The feminine brown girl urge to ruffle Jason’s hair, make him chai and call him “meri jaan.”

[maihonhassan]

As Mirza Ghalib wrote;

koi virani si virani hai, dasht ko dekh ke ghar yaad aaya

“What kind of desolation there this be, Home comes to mind the desert when I see.”

[mehreenkhan]

tanhai mein kya kya na tujhe yaad kiya hai

kya kya na dil-e-zar ne dhundhi hain panahen

In how many ways did I remember you, in solitude

How many refuges did the weakened heart seek

Faiz, Do Ishq

[mintypsii]

dekho mujhay urdu mein lineay marne nahi aati meri taraf mat dekho yeh sanji ki galti hai

[anothersadaf]

dil nā-umīd to nahīñ nākām hī to hai

lambī hai ġham kī shaam magar shaam hī to hai

Faiz Ahmad Faiz

the heart is not hopeless, it has only been defeated

the evening of sorrow is long, but it is only an evening

[worldtalks]

کراچی پاکستان کا دارالحکومت ہے۔

Karachi is the capital of Pakistan.

[desigrrrl]

— Faiz Ahmed Faiz, My Heart, Fellow Traveler (translated by Waqas Khwaja)

[aflamethatneverdies]

til Edward Said met and wrote about Faiz while he was living in exile in Beirut in late 70s and early 80s during a military dictatorship here. Anti-imperialist and Marxist poets and writers here have always written about and expressed solidarity with Palestine.

[starlightshadowsworld]

Desi Yosano Akiko (Bungou stray dogs)

I don't wish to say: "There he is." 
Why should I lose what years have 
gained: my life of freedom, my free mind?


I know if I ever fell into his hands 
he'd swiftly turn me into a housefly. 
Confined to the walls of his desires, 
I'd forget I had ever known the joys of light, breeze and perfume. 

Yes, I'm happy to remain a butterfly:
though life's needs conspire against me at least my wings are still intact.

-I’m happy to remain a butterfly by Parveen Shakir

[his-heart-hymns]

Dedicating Faiz Ahmed Faiz's poem to all the oppressed people throughout the world,specially Palestinians.

A few more days, my love, only a few days more

It is our lot to live under the shadow of tyranny

To suffer this outrage, to bear this pain, to weep awhile

This legacy of our past is our cross to bear

Our bodies are confined, our emotions in shackles

Worry is a prisoner, Speech is proscribed

But there’s a courage within us that keeps us going

It’s as if our very life is a beggar's garment

That needs to be patched with pain, time after time

But now these cruel times have almost run their course

This impatient longing is almost over

In this burnt desolation that is the world and its time

We have to go on, but not this way

The unbearable torment of unseen hands

The futility of heartburn, the body's unheard lament

Has to be endured for now, but not forever

This dust of sorrow that veils your beauty

This bounty of defeats on our fleeting youth

This worthless throbbing under moonlit nights

A few more days, my love, only a few days more

[aashufta-sar]

Mujhe tou qaid e muhabbat azeez thi lekin kisi ne mujh ko giraftaar kar ke chor diya

To me the imprisonment of love was precious but someone captivated me and left.

Shakeel badayuni / شکیل بدایونی

[midnightorchids]

in another life im putting mustard oil in jason’s hair and calling him meri dunya while we watch old bollywood movies and eat sweet seasonal fruits <3

[maihonhassan]

Mustansar Hussain Tarar said:

“Koi jitna marzi wafa nibhata rahe logon ko hamesha be-wafa ki hi yaad satati hai.”

No matter how faithfully one may strive, People are often haunted by memories of their perceived disloyalty.

[mehreenkhan]

It's only the beginning of love why do you wail?

Wait and see what happens as things soon unveil

-Mir Taqi Mir (1723 – 1810)

[rushdavsky]

مفلسی سب بہار کھوتی ہے ، مرد کا اعتبارکھوتی ہے 

کیوں کے حاصل ہو مج کو جمعیت ، زلف تیری قرار کھوتی ہے

ہر سحر شوخ کی نگہ کی شراب، مج انکھان کا خمارکھوتی ہے

کیوں کے ملنا صنم کا ترک کروں ، دلبری اختیار کھوتی ہے

اے ولی آب اس پری رو کی، مج سنےکا غبار کھوتی ہے_

poverty takes away spring and trust from a man.

when i find peace, you take it away. 

every dawning the compelling look, takes away the crapulence from me.

why should I abandon meeting my beloved, it takes away the option of being loved.

Wali, the radiant venust face, takes away the sadness of my body. 

Wali muhammad Wali—

(translated by rushda-akbar)