Faiz - In translation

I was being unfair yesterday by posting these beautifully worded songs without a translation.
Before I go hunting for the earlier one's, I'd like to share another favorite by Faiz Ahmad Faiz.

Click in this box to hear Faiz read..


Don’t Ask Me for That Love Again

That which then was ours, my love,
don’t ask me for that love again.
The world then was gold, burnished with light –
and only because of you. That’s what I had believed.

How could one weep for sorrows other than yours?
How could one have any sorrow but the one you gave?
So what were these protests, these rumors of injustice?
A glimpse of your face was evidence of springtime.
The sky, wherever I looked, was nothing but your eyes.
If You’d fall into my arms, Fate would be helpless.
All this I’d thought, all this I’d believed.
But there were other sorrows, comforts other than love.

The rich had cast their spell on history:
dark centuries had been embroidered on brocades and silks.
Bitter threads began to unravel before me
as I went into alleys and in open markets
saw bodies plastered with ash, bathed in blood.
I saw them sold and bought, again and again.
This too deserves attention. I can’t help but look back
when I return from those alleys –what should one do?
And you still are so ravishing –what should I do?

There are other sorrows in this world,
comforts other than love.
Don’t ask me, my love, for that love again.


Translation By Agha Shahid Ali
Copyright 1991, 1995 by Agha Shahid Ali