Faiz is often seen playing with
complex metaphors in whatever he writes. He is a master of double entendre.
Lines loaded with meanings that go far deeper than the obvious. For example, in
the relatively simpler but extremely popular ghazal raaz e ulfat, he writes:
aas us dar se TuuTatii hii nahii.n
jaa ke dekhaa, na jaa ke dekh liyaa
My hopes are perpetually anchored to
that threshold
Irrespective of my surrender or
abstinence
**
One may interpret the threshold as
representing the lover's door or the divine doorway leading to God, in both
cases, hopes stay alive at there and simply refuse to perish.
Fascinated by the poetry of Faiz, I
embarked upon translating his choicest fifty creations with the intention
of invoking his artistry for the
contemporary readers, a couple of years ago. Working on Faiz's poetry was an
absolute labor of love. Any translator will empathize that it is challenge to
reproduce the alluring qualities in a poet's work. The nuances of a particular
language often cannot be replicated in English. More so in in Faiz's lyrics—the
bold lines, the taut narratives, and the carefully chosen rhetoric. Keeping
this in mind, it would be more appropriate to call my work on Faiz as trans
creations rather than translations.
Also, it is impossible to translate
gazals because if their unique form. But that does not mean that the
contemporary English reader should be denied the pleasure of enjoying Faiz's
poetry.
My
trans creations of Faiz's works titled Faiz Once More, will be released in
2017. Meanwhile here are two trans creations compiled especially for SETU
readers.
Tum aaye ho na shab-e-intazaar guzarii hai
talaash me.n hai
sahar baar baar guzarii hai
junuu.N me.n jitanii bhii guzarii
bakaar guzarii hai
agarche dil pe
Kharaabii hazaar guzarii hai
huii hai hazarat-e-naaseh se guftaguu
jis shab
wo shab zaruur
sar-e-kuu-e-yaar guzarii hai
wo baat saare fasaane me.n jisakaa
zikr na thaa
wo baat unako
bahot naa-gavaar guzarii hai
na gul khile hai.n, na unase mile, na
mai pii hai
ajiib rang me.n
ab ke bahaar guzarii hai
chaman me.n Gaarat-e-gulachii.N se
jaane kyaa guzarii
qafas se aaj sabaa beqaraar guzarii
hai
**
Trans Creation
Neither have you arrived nor has the
night of waiting ended
the morning is looking for you, it has
come and gone several times
Whatever occurred in my state of utter
frenzy kept me on my toes
although it did prove to be tough on
my heart
Those nights that I spent talking to
my well meaning advisors
were the nights that I spent in my
beloved's street
That which I did not touch upon in my
story at all
that omitted bit was extremely
unacceptable to the listeners
Neither have flowers blossomed, nor
have I met her nor have I drunk wine
spring has been colored in a strange
hue this year
How ruthlessly the flower plucker
pillaged the blossoms in the garden today
the breeze that touches my body seems
so tortured and restless.
*********
Nazm
ye daaG daaG ujaalaa, ye shab_gaziidaa
sahar
wo intazaar thaa jis kaa, ye wo sahar
to nahii.n
ye wo sahar to nahii.n jis kii aarazuu
lekar
chale the yaar ki mil jaayegii kahii.n
na kahii.n
falak ke dasht me.n taro.n kii
aaKharii ma.nzil
kahii.n to hogaa shab-e-sust mauj kaa
saahil
kahii.n to jaa ke rukegaa
safinaa-e-Gam-e-dil
jawaa.N lahuu kii pur-asaraar
shaaharaaho.n se
chale jo yaar to
daaman pe kitane haath pa.De
dayaar-e-husn kii be-sabr
Khwaab-gaaho.n se
pukaratii rahii.n baahe.n, badan
bulaate rahe
bahut aziiz thii lekin ruKh-e-sahar
kii lagan
bahut qarii.n thaa hasiinaan-e-nuur
kaa daaman
subuk subuk thii tamannaa, dabii dabii
thii thakan
sunaa hai ho bhii chukaa hai
firaq-e-zulmat-e-nuur
sunaa hai ho bhii chukaa hai
wisaal-e-ma.nzil-o-gaam
badal chukaa hai bahut ahl-e-dard kaa
dastuur
nishaat-e-wasl
halaal-o-azaab-e-hijr-e-haraam
jigar kii aag, nazar kii uma.ng, dil
kii jalan
kisii pe chaaraa-e-hijraa.N kaa kuchh
asar hii nahii.n
kahaa.N se aaii nigaar-e-sabaa, kidhar
ko gaii
abhii chiraaG-e-sar-e-rah ko kuchh
Khabar hii nahii.n
abhii garaani-e-shab me.n kamii
nahii.n aaii
najaat-e-diida-o-dil kii gha.Dii
nahii.n aaii
chale chalo ki wo
ma.nzil abhii nahii.n aaii
**
Trans Creation
A blemished dawn, a morning bitten by
the night
This can't be the daybreak that we'd
been waiting for
This can't be the dawn whose desire we
cherished
and in whose search our friends set
out hoping to find it someday
The ultimate destination of stars lies
in the desert of the skies
These dreary waves of nights too must
have their shores somewhere
Somewhere the sorrowed boat of the
heart must dock
When friends set out on the mysterious
highways of young fiery blood
They were pulled back by countless
hands
Arms kept beckoning from thresholds of
the restless bedrooms of beauty
Bodies kept
calling
But the yearning to see the face of a
new dawn was more intense
Even though the lissome beauties were
well within reach
And buoyant was desire, slight the
weariness.
I've heard that the distinction
between darkness and light has been made
I've heard that destinations have been
united with footsteps
And that the definition of suffering
lovers has altered drastically
That delightful nights of unions have
been sanctioned for slaughter
and torments of separation rendered
unlawful
The passions of the mind, the
excitement of glances, the fire of hearts
Have no impact on being the solutions
of separation for anyone anymore.
From where did the morning breeze
blow, where did it go
The lamps lining the path do not know
as yet
The heaviness of the night has not
lessened by any means
The moment that will liberate the eyes
and the heart is not here yet
Keep walking, the destination is not
in sight yet.
*********
Bio: Author of Words Not Spoken (Brown Critique/Sampark) and The Longest Pleasure (Finishing Line Press, USA) and The Silk Of Hunger (AuthorsPress, Delhi), Vinita is a Mumbai based, award winning poet and writer. She is Senior Editor for the women based website www.thewomaninc.com. She is the recipient of the Gayatri GaMarsh Memorial Award USA, 2015. Her poems have appeared in Asiancha, Constellations, The Fox Chase Review, Pea River Journal, Mithila Review, Open Road Review, Stockholm Literary Review, Poetry Pacific and other national and international journals. Her poems have been widely anthologized in Indo-Australian compilations. She was nominated for the Best of the Net Awards 2011, awarded first prize in the Wordweavers Contest 2014, commendation prize in the All India Poetry Competition 2014 and won the 2014 Hour of Writes Contest thrice. She has read at SAARC events in Delhi and Agra at the U.S. Consulate, Hyderabad, at Delhi for Delhi Poetree, and at Mumbai for Cappucino Readings. She can be reached at https://www.pw.org/content/vinita_agrawal or at www.vinitawords.com
