Love Poem: Urdu Translations
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Written by: Michael Burch

Urdu Translations

Last Night 
by Faiz Ahmed Faiz
translation by Michael R. Burch

Last night, your memory stole into my heart
as spring sweeps uninvited through barren gardens
as morning breezes revive dormant deserts
as a patient suddenly feels better for no apparent reason



Strange Currents
by Amir Khusrow
translation by Michael R. Burch

O Khusrow, the river of love
creates strange currents
the one who would surface invariably drowns
while the one who submerges, survives



Near Sainthood
by Mirza Ghalib
translation by Kanu V. Prajapati and M. Burch

On the subject of mystic philosophy, Ghalib, 
your words might have struck us as deeply profound
and we might have pronounced you a saint
if only we hadn't found
you drunk
as a skunk!



What Happened to Them?
by Nasir Kazmi
translation by Michael R. Burch

Those who went ashore, what happened to them? 
Those who sailed away, what happened to them? 

Those who were coming at dawn, but dawn never arrived?
Those caravans en route, what happened to them? 

Those I awaited each night on dark, moonless paths, 
Who were meant to light their beacons, what happened to them? 

Who are all these strange people surrounding me now? 
All my missing friends and allies, what happened to them? 

Those who built these burning buildings, what happened to them? 
Those who were meant to uplift us, what happened to them?



The Fortunate Traveler
by Ahmed Faraz
translation by Michael R. Burch

Even in the torture chamber, I was the lucky one; 
when each lottery was over, unaccountably I had won.

And even the mightiest rivers found accessible refuge in me; 
though I was called an arid desert, I turned out to be the sea.

And how sweetly I remember you—oh, my wild, delectable love!— 
as the purest white blossoms bloom, on talented branches above. 

And while I'm half-convinced that folks adore me in this town, 
still, all the hands I kissed held knives and tried to shake me down. 

You lost the battle, my coward friend, my craven enemy, 
when, to victimize my lonely soul, you sent a despoiling army.

Lost in the wastelands of vast love, I was an eager traveler, 
like a breeze in search of your fragrance, a vagabond explorer.



Ghazal
by Mirza Ghalib
translation by Michael R. Burch

Not the blossomings of songs nor the adornments of music
I am the voice of my own heart breaking

You toy with your long, dark curls
while I remain captive to my dark, pensive thoughts

We congratulate ourselves that we two are different
that this weakness has not burdened us both with inchoate grief

Now you are here, and I find myself bowing
as if sadness is a blessing, and longing a sacrament

I am a fragment of sound rebounding
you are the walls impounding my echoes



Being
by Momin Khan Momin
translation by Michael R. Burch

You are so close to me
that no one else ever can be.

NOTE: There is a legend that the great Urdu poet Mirza Ghalib offered all his diwan (poetry collections) in exchange for this one sher (couplet) by Momin Khan Momin. Does the couplet mean "be as close" or "be, at all"? Does it mean "You are with me in a way that no one else can ever be?" Or does it mean that no one else can ever exist as truly as one's true love? Or does this sher contain an infinite number of elusive meanings, like love itself?



Being (II)
by Momin Khan Momin
translation by Michael R. Burch

You alone are with me when I am alone.
You are beside me when I am beside myself.
You are as close to me as everyone else is afar.
You are so close to me that no one else ever can be.



Perhaps
by Momin Khan Momin
translation by Michael R. Burch

The cohesiveness between us, you may remember or perhaps not. 
Our solemn oaths of faithfulness, you may remember, or perhaps forgot.
If something happened that was not to your liking,
the shrinking away that produces silence, you may remember, or perhaps not. 
Listen, the sagas of so many years, the promises you made amid time's onslaught,
which you now fail to mention, you may remember, or perhaps not. 
These new resentments, those old rehashed complaints, 
these lighthearted and displeasing stories, you may remember, or perhaps forgot.
Some seasons ago we shared love and desire, we shared joy ...
That we once were dear friends, you may have, perhaps, forgot.
Now if we come together, by fate or by chance, to express old loyalties ...
Our every shared breath, all our sighs and regrets, you may remember, or perhaps not.



Every Once in a While
by Amjad Islam Amjad
loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

Every once in a while,
immersed in these muggy nights
when all earth’s voices seem to have fallen
into the bruised-purple silence of half-sleep,
I awaken from a wonderful dream
to see through the veil that drifts between us
that you too are companionless and wide awake.



Keywords/Tags: Urdu, translation, translations, Hindi, ghazal, couplet, love, passion, desire, longing, romance, nature