Persian and Urdu Poetry



Khwajah Muhammad, Bangash

Khwajah Muhammad is believed to have lived during the time of the Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb. He belonged to the Bangash tribe of Afghans. The Nawabs of Farrukhabad are descendants of this tribe. He lived in poverty like a Darwesh. He is a Sufi mystic, but some of his poems are laments for his lost friends.



The whole of my grief is love for you, love, love for you;
My heart is broken to atoms: it has become blood, all blood.

My very vitals have become gorged with red, red blood,
Though clothed outwardly in white, all white!

You inflict fresh wounds upon me again and again,
Although my former wounds unhealed are many, very many!

You haven’t shown any kindness towards me in life:
What is the use of your showing it now, when I die?

You have expelled me completely from the garden, my love!
And the black crows in it consume the ripe, ripe fruit!

Your dark tresses have filled the whole land with fragrance:
Your curls are like the musk pods of Chin all perfume, all perfume!

Those sleepy eyes of yours are lions, both fierce and ravenous;
For they bear away Kwajah Muhammad unto death, cruel death!



Ashraf Khan, Khattak (1634—1693)

Ashraf Khan, chieftain of Khattak, was betrayed by his brother into the hands of Aurangzeb, who deported him to Bijapur in India in 1683 as a state prisoner. There in the jail he languished till his death in 1693.

What shall I say to anyone about the anguish of separation,
Since it has not left within me even the power to complain?

Since every injury she heaps upon me is right and lawful,
Let the proud one stand face to face with me at least once?

The gold bracelets upon her wrists make an amazing display:
Let them never become broken from the disasters of fate!
For my sake, O physician, you always show commiseration—
You say, ‘by antidotes you will be relieved from your afflictions.’

The diseases of the body you know, without doubt;
But when is the agony of the heart laid bare to you?

Khattak that I am, with exile I am never content;
But affection for my friend has severed me from my kin.

The grief of the separated shall be changed into gladness,
If anyone from the tavern brings me some wine.



Parvin Etesami , Great Iranian poetess(1906-1941)

 Translated by Ali Samavati

Parvin Etesami was born in 1907 in Tabriz. She composed her first poem in the classical style when she was eight. Her first collection of poems was published in 1935 and she received a 3rd degree Medal of Art and Culture in 1936.
Parvin may be called the greatest Persian poetess writing in the classical style. Loneliness and seclusion from social activities - the lot of almost all Iranian women in her day - added to the sad experiences of a sensitive and tender soul and made her the most sincere voice sounding the cruelty of the rulers and wealthy landlords. She knew of the corruption of the leading authorities in the judiciary and in the clergy. Her work, about 210 poems, reflects the reality of life in her day and offers moral solutions.
Living in Iran's evolutionary period to modernism, Parvin's poetry expressed themes of a social, humanitarian, learning, and mystic nature with no signs of love or feminism evident in her works. Parvin Etesami married in 1934 and got divorced two months later. She died in 1940 from typhoid fever in Tehran and was buried at Qom.



The Thief and the Judge

People gathered in a court to see a thief
Being questioned for punishment or relief

The Judge wanted to prove stealing was absurd and filthy
Thereby, he planned to condemn the thief for being guilty

But, the interrogation turned facing another way
For the thief too, had a lot to ask and a lot to say

Judge: "Why do you do an act so odd?"
Thief: "Why do you drink of people's blood?"

Judge: "You shall be punished severely, indeed!"
Thief: "Is there a penalty or your illicit deed?"

Judge: "What is your job? Do clearly divulge!"
Thief: "I steal, just the same as the judge."

Judge: "Where is all that gold that you stole?"
Thief: "Where is all that money you took as dole?"

Judge: "You are very imprudent, and awfully rude,"
Thief: "Let us talk about my deed, not my attitude!"

THIEF:

"I steal what I need, same as a harmless craw,"
"I steal as a thief, but you, in the name of law."

"I steal what I find on the shelves or on floors,"
"I jump over the walls; you come in from the doors."

"I steal with fear, in the darkness of the night,"
"You steal freely, in the beauty of the daylight."

"I have done wrongful acts, but I have not been aware,"
"You know you are wrong, but you do not seem to care."

"How can you ever expect other to be moral?"
"When yourself do not care about morality at all?"




GARLIC TO ONION:

“Move away! you really smell”
“You smell so bad, I can’t tell”


ONION TO GARLIC:

“Of your own flaws, you are not aware”
“So to pick on others, you freely dare”

“By humiliating others, you don’t win any fame”
“This selfish act brings you nothing but shame!”

“You think you are a flower that in the Garden of Heaven grows?”
“Do you believe you are in the same class as Lilac and Rose?”

“You think that your lovely aroma revives the air?”
“Do you believe that you always shine and flare?”

“I agree with you that I truly smell”
“But you have that feature, truly as well!”

“You should not be arrogant and rude”
“For, you come from the same neighborhood!”

“First look at yourself, before you blame!”
“You might deserve blaming, just the same!”