Parveen Shakir Translations
These are my English translations of Urdu poems by Parveen Shakir, a highly educated female Pakistani poet.
Parveen Shakir (1952-1994) was a female Pakistani poet and civil servant. Highly educated, she held a PhD, four MAs (including one from Harvard) and two undergraduate degrees. Shakir brought a distinctive feminine voice to Urdu poetry. Unfortunately, she died young in an automobile accident when her car was hit by a bus. The Islamabad road where the accident occurred is now called the Parveen Shakir Road. A literary festival, the "Parveen Shakir Urdu Literature Festival," is held every year in her memory.
Confession
by Parveen Shakir
loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch
Your image overwhelmed my vision.
As the long nights passed, I became obsessed with your visage.
Then came the moment when I quietly placed my lips to your picture …
Picnic
by Parveen Shakir
loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch
My friends laugh elsewhere on the beach
while I sit here, alone, counting the waves,
writing and rewriting your name in the sand …
Rain
by Parveen Shakir
loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch
Why shiver alone in the rain, maiden?
Embrace the one in whose warming love your body and mind would be drenched!
There are no rains higher than the rains of Love,
after which the bright rainbows of separation will glow with the mysteries of hues.
My Body's Moods
by Parveen Shakir
loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch
I long for the day when you'll be obsessed with me,
when, forgetting the world, you'll miss me with a passion
and stop complaining about my reticence!
Then I may forget all other transactions and liabilities
to realize my world in your arms,
letting my body's moods guide me.
In that moment beyond boundaries and limitations
as we defy the conventions of veil and turban,
let's try our luck and steal a taste of the forbidden fruit!
Moon
by Parveen Shakir
loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch
All of us passengers,
we share the same fate.
And yet I'm alone here on earth,
and she alone there in the sky!
Vanity
by Parveen Shakir
loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch
His world is so simple, so very different from mine.
So distinct—his dreams and desires.
He speaks rarely.
This morning he wrote: "I saw some lovely flowers and thought of you."
Ha! I know my aging face is no orchid …
but how I wish I could believe whatever he says, however momentarily!
Links to other translations by Michael R. Burch:
Jaun Elia
Mirza Ghalib
Gulzar
Ahmad Faraz
Faiz Ahmed Faiz
Rahat Indori
Allama Iqbal
Nasir Kazmi
Amir Khusrow
Rabindranath Tagore
The Best Translations of Michael R. Burch