Ahmad Faraz!
These are my modern English translations of Urdu poems by Ahmad Faraz.
Ahmad Faraz (1931-2008), born Syed Ahmad Shah, was a Pakistani poet generally considered to be one of the greatest Urdu poets. Famous for his ghazals, Faraz was accessible to ordinary readers due to his "fine but simple style of writing." Ethnically a Hindkowan, he studied Persian and Urdu at Edwards College, then at Peshawar University, where he later became a lecturer after receiving his Masters degree. During his college days, the poets Faiz Ahmad Faiz and Ali Sardar Jafri impressed him and became influences on his work.
No Explanation! (I)
by Ahmad Faraz
loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch
Please don't ask me how deeply it hurt!
Her sun shone so bright, even the shadows smoldered!
No Explanation! (II)
by Ahmad Faraz
loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch
Please don't ask me how it happened!
She didn't bind me, nor did I free myself.
Faraz became an outspoken critic of Pakistan’s military dictatorship, saying, "My conscience will not forgive me if I remain a silent spectator of the sad happenings around us. The least I can do is to let the dictatorship know where it stands in the eyes of the concerned citizens whose fundamental rights have been usurped. I ... refuse to associate myself in any way with this regime ..."
The Eager Traveler
by Ahmad Faraz
loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch
Even in the torture chamber, I was the lucky one;
When each lottery was over, unaccountably I had won.
And even the mightiest rivers found accessible refuge in me;
Though I was called an arid desert, I turned out to be the sea.
And how sweetly I remember you, oh, my wild, delectable love —
Like the purest white blossoms, on talented branches above.
And while I’m half-convinced that folks adore me in this town,
Still, all the hands I kissed held knives and tried to shake me down.
You lost the battle, my coward friend, my craven enemy,
When, to victimize my lonely soul, you sent a despoiling army.
Lost in the wastelands of vast love, I was an eager traveler,
Like a breeze in search of your fragrance, a vagabond explorer.
I Cannot Remember
by Ahmad Faraz
loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch
I once was a poet too (you gave life to my words), but now I cannot remember
Since I have forgotten you (my love!), my art too I cannot remember
Yesterday consulting my heart, I learned
that your hair, lips, mouth, I cannot remember
In the city of the intellect insanity is silence
But now your sweet, spontaneous voice, its fluidity, I cannot remember
Once I was unfamiliar with wrecking balls and ruins
But now the cultivation of gardens, I cannot remember
Now everyone shops at the store selling arrows and quivers
But neglects his own body, the client he cannot remember
Since time has brought me to a desert of such arid forgetfulness
Even your name may perish; I cannot remember
In this narrow state of being, lacking a country,
even the abandonment of my fellow countrymen, I cannot remember
Come
by Ahmad Faraz
loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch
Come, even with anguish, even to torture my heart;
Come, even if only to abandon me to torment again.
Come, if not for our past commerce,
Then to faithfully fulfill the ancient barbaric rituals.
Who else can recite the reasons for our separation?
Come, despite your reluctance, to continue the litanies, the ceremony.
Respect, even if only a little, the depth of my love for you;
Come, someday, to offer me consolation as well.
Too long you have deprived me of the pathos of longing;
Come again, my love, if only to make me weep.
Till now, my heart still suffers some slight expectation;
So come, snuff out even the last flickering torch of hope!
Alone
by Ahmad Faraz
loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch
Why are you sad that she goes on alone, Faraz?
After all, you said yourself that she was unique!
Separation
by Ahmad Faraz
loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch
Faraz, if it were easy to be apart,
would Angels have to separate body from soul?
Time
by Ahmad Faraz
loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch
What if my face has more wrinkles than yours?
I am merely well-worn by Time!
Other translations by Michael R. Burch:
Jaun Elia
Mirza Ghalib
Gulzar
Ahmad Faraz
Faiz Ahmed Faiz
Allama Iqbal
The Best Poetry Translations of Michael R. Burch
One of the truly great things about Ahmad Faraz is that he never wanted to sit placidly on the sidelines of life and not fully participate in it. For him, the purpose of life was to live it, so “The Eager Traveler” represents him very well. I particularly like the final couplet:
Lost in the wastelands of vast love, I was an eager traveler,
Like a breeze in search of your fragrance, a vagabond explorer.
loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch