Tag Archives: dawn

On The Day Death Comes

How will it come, on the day Death comes?
Maybe it will come on the day in the early evening
Like the granting, without asking, of a first kiss
Opening the doors, in all directions, to the magical
And, at a distance, the fragrance of unseen flowers
Suddenly begins to torment the bosom of the moon

Maybe in this manner, sometime after the end of the night
The fresh-green dawn with buds half-open
Suddenly, flares up in waves from the Beloved’s chamber
And, from mute windows, at the time of departing
The sound of the stars, a tingling rattle, begins to be heard

In what way will it come, on the day Death comes?
Maybe in this manner, the method used, at the point of a spear
The vein, with just the premonition of pain, begins to scream
And the dim shadow of the bandit, spear in hand
Begins to strut about, over the world, from end to end

However it comes, on the day Death comes
Maybe it will come as a killer in the guise of the Beloved
From the heart will be these parting words to the image :
By God, praise to the fate of the heart stricken by love
Declare the faith in thanks to the sweet lips of the Beloved.

( my translation of a poem by Faiz Ahmed Faiz ).

(c) Satori Publishing, 2020.

Dawn Of Freedom (August 1947)

This stain-polluted light, this night-ravaged dawn
This is not that break of day yearned for in expectant hope
This is not the dawn whose desired promise we carried forth
We comrades set out convinced of finding somewhere or other
In the celestial desert a haven for the stars to finally come to rest
Somewhere for the night’s slow, lazy waves to lap a distant shore
Somewhere a safe harbour to dock the ship of heartache

The mysterious pathways known only to the blood of youth
When we friends set off so many hands tugged at our clothes
Reaching out from eager bed-chambers in the Abode of Beauty
Open arms enticed us, the siren calls of bodies in heat
Very dear, but all our love was for the vision of dawn
Very near, pure rays of light rising on her glowing robes
Our longing still strong, we shrugged off our fatigue

I have heard that the dark has been separated from the light
I have heard that the journey and destination have been unified
The behaviour of our fellow sufferers has changed full circle
Pleasure of union is now pure, the pain of separation is now impure

Fire in the liver, the vision unfulfilled, the pain of heartburn
The remedies for this severance have no affect on any ailment
Whence came the beauteous morning breeze? Blew away where?
There is no news yet of the lamp at the end of the path
There is no lessening yet in the heavy oppression of the night
The hour has not come for the deliverance of heart and soul
Keep moving … keep moving … our goal has not yet been reached.

( my translation of a poem by Faiz Ahmed Faiz ).

(c) Satori Publishing, 2020.