July 2015
I am reading a book after a very long time indeed. Recommend this to readers. Available on Amazon India (click
here). Kindle edition
here.
The Urdu is somewhat of a higher standard vocabulary so a bit of Googling might be required to grasp the meaning of the words used in the poetry but that done the true depth of the verses comes out to light.
In saying that, the translation could have been better. The translator (Sarvat Rahman) has tried to create a poem out of the translated verses by rhyming the translation itself which somehow doesn't seem to match in fidelity to the spirit of the original verses to the fullest extent. Although no translation does that anyways, but conveying the meaning in free verse would have been better according to me instead of forced rhyming. But nevertheless i find it worth a read for the original verses.
A sample poem along with the books translation follows. At the end though, i have provided the meaning of the words used in the poem and my own interpretation/translation in free verse.
'Apne Inaam-e-Husn Ke Balde
Ham Tahi Daston Se Kya Lena
Aaj Furqat-Zaadon Pe Lutf Karo
Phir Kabhi Sabr Aazma Lena...'
Faiz Ahmad Faiz
Urdu Poet From Pakistan
1911-1984
Translation as in book:
In return for the honors your beauty bestows
From us, the empty-handed, what can you ask ?
Be kind today for we bore, of parting the woes,
Of testing our patience for tomorrow leave the task.
My take on this:
Tahi-Daston = empty-handed, as pointed out by the translator
Furqat-Zaadon = Those afflicted by long separation
In the verses, it's as if a lover comes after a long time to his beloved and asks her to spare some love for him while telling her all the same that he is empty handed and does not have anything to give in return as a reward for her mesmerizing beauty. He requests her to feel the union with a lover afflicted by long separation and lovingly suggests that she may test his patience some other day.
For my other posts on Poetry/Urdu/Faiz, click the appropriate label in the 'Category Cloud' in the right hand section of this blog or at the end of this post.
