Ali Sardar Jafri (1916-2000)
| Mera Safar Phir aik din aisa aayega aankho key diye bujh jaayengey haathon key kanwal kumhlaayenge | My Journey ( Translation) That day will come without fail: the lamps of the eyes will go out, the lotuses of the palms will wilt. |
| aur barg-e-zabaan sey nataq-wa-sadaa ki har titlee urh jaayegi | From the leaf of the tongue the butterflies of speech will flutter away forever. |
| ik kaaley samandar ki tah mein kaliyon ki tarah sey khilti hui phoolon ki tarah sey hansti hui saari shaklein kho jaayengi | In the depths of the darkest sea. blooming like buds, Still laughing like myriad blossoms, all faces will fall and scatter |
| khoon ki gardish, dil ki dharhkan sab raaginyaan so jaayengi | The strife of blood, the throb of heart and every melody will go mute. |
| aur neeli fazaa ki makhmal par hansti hui heerey ki yeh kani yeh meri jannat, meri zamein iss ki subhain, iss ki shaamein bey jaaney huey, bey samjhey huey ik musht ghubaar-e-insaan par shabnam ki tarah ro jaayangi | On the blue velvet of space that luminous crystal of diamond, and these—my heaven and earth, the nights and the mornings all without knowing, without understanding on the human handful of dust. will shed tears of dew |
| har cheez bhula di jaayegi yaadon key haseen but khaaney sey har cheez utha di jaayegi phir koi nahiN yeh puchhega SARDAR kahaan hai mehfil mein | Every cherished thing will go, plucked from memory’s fine pagan shrine. And then no friend will ask a friend: “Why don’t we see Sardar today?” |
| lekin mein yahaan phir aaoonga bachchon key dahan sey boloonga chirhyon ki zabaan sey gaaonga | Yet I will return here yet to speak out of the mouths of babes, to warble with the tongues of birds. |
| jab beej hanseingey dharti meiN aur konpleiN apni ungli sey mitti ki tahon ko chherheingi mein patti patti, kali kali apni aankheiN phir kholoonga sar sabz hatheli par ley kar shabnam key qatrey tolooNga | When in the earth seeds burst out laughing and green-fingered sprouts tease the soil I, leaf by leaf and bud by bud, will open all my eyes, balancing on green palms drops of dew. |
| mein rang-e-hena, aahang-e-ghazal andaaz-e-sukhan ban jaaooNga rukhsaar-e-aroos-e-nau ki tarah har aanchal sey chhan jaaonga | I will take on the hue of henna, the harmony of a ghazal. And like a young bride’s virgin cheek, I’ll glow through every bridal veil. |
| jaarhon ki hawaaein daaman meiNn jab fasal-e-khazaan ko laayengi rahroo key jawaan qadmon key taley sookhey huey patton sey merey hansney ki sadaayein aayengi | When chilly winds bring on their tails the season of desolation, under the traveler’s young feet my laughter will resound in the dry leaves. |
| dharti ki sunhari sab nadiyaan aakash ki neeli sab jheelein hasti sey meri bhar jaayengi | All the gold rivers of the earth, all the blue lakes of heaven will brim with my existence. |
| aur saraa zamaanah dekhegaa har qissah mera afsaanah hai har aashiq hai sardaar yahaan har maashooqan sultanaah hai | The world will see under my star every tale become my story, where every lover is Sardar and every love is my Sultana. |
| main aik gurezaan lamha hoon ayyam key afsoon khaaney mein main aik tarhapta qatrah hoon masroof-e-safar jo rahta hai maazi ki suraahi key dil sey mustaqbil key paimaney mein | I’m but a fleeting moment’s flop in time’s uncanny magic-room, I’m but a vacillating drop on its brief trip through light and gloom, as from the goblet of the past into the future’s cup I flow. |
| main sotaa hoon aur jaagta hoon aur jaag key phir so jaata hoon sadyion ka puranaa khel hoon main main mar key amar ho jaata hoon | I sleep and wake up as I go, I wake and fall asleep as fast, a centuries-old game: the breath of immortality in death. |
urduwallahs 