Sunday, July 12, 2015

English Translation Yeh Daagh Daagh Ujala by Faiz Ahmed Faiz

On Youtube, I was listening to the popular poem of Faiz Ahmad Faiz. In the comments section, there was a very nice English translation of the poem by Anil Bajpai. I am posting the translation below.

DAWN This tattered raiment of darkness
This sputtering of dawn.
This is not the dawn that we had hoped for.
This is not the dawn we had set out for.
Through the darkness,
Towards the last station of the night stars;
Hoping to find the end of our journey,
Somewhere on the distant shore
Of the languishing sea of night,
Where our sorrow-laden ship
Would at last come home to anchor.
Through youth's warm blooded venues
As we traveled,
Many a hand tugged at our cloak
From beauty`s sleepless abode
Many arms and bodies beckoned us
But very dear was the blush of dawn,
And inviting was the glowing raiment
Of the maidens of light.
Brisk was then the desire
And suppressed entirely the thought of fatigue.
Darkness now has cleaved from light,
We hear.
The Journey has finally now ended,
We hear.
How changed are the rules
For those who have struggled painfully.
Permitted now only is the pleasure
From the delusion of attainment;
Forbidden is the persistent pain of struggle.
Alas!
Though the spark of vision,
The fire raging in the mind,
The heartache, none has dimmed.
From whither came the gust of dawn's breeze,
And where did it go?
The flickering lamp on the wayside,
Does not know.
The darkness of the night has not ended yet.
The moment of liberation of hearts and minds Has not come yet.
Keep going, for we have not come
To the end of our journey yet!

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