A translation has been described as looking at the ‘wrong’ side of a carpet: the colour, sheen, pattern are all there; it’s just that they are muted with none of the jewel-brightness and sharpness of the ‘right’ side facing up. I present this collection of Kaifi’s nazms and lyrics to you with the full awareness of the inevitability of loss. Diminished though they are when they move from one language to another, especially from one language and its literary culture that is so disparate from the other, these translations will nevertheless, I hope, carry some trace of the brilliance of Kaifi’s pen.

Rakhshanda Jalil

December 2018

New Delhi

POEMS

Shaukat ke Naam

Aisa jhonka bhi ik aaya thha ki dil bujhne laga thha

Tuune uss haal mein bhi mujh ko sambhale rakha

Kuchh andhere jo mere dum se miley thhe tujh ko

Afreen tujh ko ke naam unn ka ujaley rakha

Mere yeh sajde jo awara bhi badnaam bhi hain

Apni chaukhat pe saja le jo tere kaam ke hon

To Shaukat*

A gust had once come that made my heart sink

You kept me safe in that state too

The darkness that fell to your lot because of me

Bravo! You named it light

These prostrations of mine, both wayward and infamous

Deck your doorway with them if they are of some use to you

Pashemani

Main yeh soch kar uss ke dar se uthaa thha

Ki woh rok le gii manaa le gii mujh ko

Havaaon mein lahraataa aataa thha daaman

Ki daaman pakarh kar bithaa le gii mujh ko

Qadam aise andaaz se uth rahe thhe

Ki aavaaz de kar bulaa legi mujh ko

Magar us ne rokaa na mujh ko manaayaa

Na daaman hii pakrha na mujh ko bithaayaa

Na aawaaz hii di na mujh ko bulaayaa

Main aahista aahista barhhtaa hi aayaa

Yahaan tak ki uss se judaa ho gayaa main

Regret

I had left her doorway thinking

She would stop me, coax me to stay

The hem of my shirt billowing in the breeze

Made me hope she would hold it, make me sit

My steps rose and fell in such a manner

As though she would call out and stop me

But she neither stopped me, nor coaxed me to stay

Nor did she hold my hem and make me sit

She neither called out, nor summoned me back

I kept walking away slowly, ever so slowly

So much so that I was separated from her

Sarojini Naidu

Aziiz ma, meri hansmukh, meri bahaadur ma

Tamaam jauhar-e-fitrat jagaa diye tu ne

Mohabbat apne chaman se, gulon se, ḳhaaron se

Mohabbaton ke ḳhazaane lutaa diye tu ne

Banaa banaa ke mitaae gae nuqush-e-amal

Tire baġhair mukammal na ho sakii tasviir

Woh ḳhvaab Jhansi ki rani ko jis ne chaunkayaa

Tira gihaad-e-musalsal usii ki hai taabiir

Usse hayaat ka sola-singaar kahte hain

Teri jabiin pe hain kuchh silvatein bhi tika bhi

Nazar mein jazb-e-yaqin dil mein soz-e-azaadi