Peit khulney pe woh jalta hua mua phorha nikley

Khoon behta hai bahey, zehr to thorha nikley

Kuchh dawa se naa hua hai, naa dua se hoga

Meiz tayyaar karo, garbhwati ko le aao

Peit ko chaak karo, kokh pe nashtar barsao

Kaun sa waqt thha, din kaisey they, haan yaad aaya

Jung uss waqt thhi, ab jung kii tayyari hai

Tab se ab tak wahi manhoos amal jaari hai

Shal huey jaate hain jarraho ke dast-o baazu

Peit mein lagtii hai aari, na chhuri dhansti hai

Meiz par leitii hui garbhwati hanstii hai

The Pregnant Woman

I have been listening to these silent groans

We have always been afflicted, not just tonight

You have not slept and neither will God sleep tonight

The midwife stands quietly stirring the opiate

Bells ring in temples and prayers are offered in mosques

Sleep is the only medicine for such patients

It’s usually the first childbirth that entails such pain

Yet this last one has raised a storm

Tiring out both the mother and the midwife

What good will come to the world from such a birth

There is a difference between spasms and retching agony

The mother is separated from the consequence, the father from the genesis

In any case, don’t give up on her womb

They say the pregnant woman is not so innocent

No one knows whether she will birth a demon or a god

This anxiety-ridden mind seeks relief

Prayer might work where medicine fails

There is no danger for the mother, though the baby may die in the womb

The surgeons say this is the fruit of sin

If it doesn’t die on its own today, let the mother too die

And this conflict between loss and gain also cease

It’s also possible that what we assume to be a child

Might turn out to be an erupting boil

Let the blood flow, let the poison drain

Medicines have not helped, nor will prayers

Ready the table for operation, bring the pregnant woman

Cut open her abdomen, rain scalpels upon her womb

What period was it, what was the era, yes, I remember now

There was a war on, even as we prepare for another

The same evil practice continues over the ages

The hands of the surgeons grow numb

Neither saw nor scalpel touches the womb

The pregnant woman lies on the table and laughs

Peetal ke Kangan

Hai yeh peetal ke kangan aur tuu jaan-e bahaar

Woh bhi laya hoon ba-mushkil wai barlail-o nahaar

Tuu magar unn ko pahn kar bhi bahut masruur hai

Kyun na ho khatir mere akhlaas kii manzuur hai

Jab se mere ghar mein tuu aayi haiai muflis nawaaz

Bann gayi hai saari hasti paikar-e soz-o gudaaz

Naujawan dil mein sinaaney ranj ki garhnein lagiin

Aa qabl az waqt rukh par jhurriyan parhnein lagiin

Woh gulabi ankhudiyan woh ras mein duube lab nahiin

Maine jo ghunghat mein dekhe the woh tewar ab nahiin