With the current state of woman in the subcontinent, we need to remind ourselves of how progressive poets like Kaifi Azminot just dreamt, but sketched in verses an image of a woman of subatance, way back in 1942.
Today well into the 21st Century, we still just dream to realize this. And we have miles to go…
Aurat
Woman
qalb e mahaul meN larzaN sharar e jung haiN aaj hausle vaqt ke aur zeest ke yek rang haiN aaj aabgeenoN meN tapaN valvala e sang haiN aaj husn aur ishq hum avaz o hum aahang haiN aaj jis meN jalta huN usi aag meN jalna hai tujhe
uTh meri jaan mere saath hi chalna hai tujhe
Todaysparks of war waver in the air
time and life have the same spirit
delicate decanters hiss with the heat of rocks
beauty and love harmonize melodiously
You too have to be ignited by the fire that burns me
Get up, my love, you have to walk with me
zindagi jahd meN hai, sabr ke qaboo meN nahiN nabz e hasti ka lahu kaanpte aansoo meN nahiN uDne khulne meN hai nikhat, Kham e gesoo meN nahiN jannat ek aur hai jo mard ke pahloo meN nahiN is ki aazad ravish par bhi machalna hai tujhe
uTh meri jaan mere saath hi chalna hai tujhe
Life is in struggle, not in the restraint of patience
The blood of pulsating life is not in trembling tears
Fragrance lies in free-flight, not in the tresses, of hair
There is another Paradise which is not by the side of men
On its free pathways too you have yet to pirouette
Get up, my love, you have to walk with me
goshe goshe meN sulagti hai chita tere liye farz ka bhes badalti hai qaza tere liye qahr hai teri har ek narm ada tere liye zahr hi zahr hai duniya ki hava tere liye ruth badal Daal agar phoolna phalna hai tujhe
uTh meri jaan mere saath hi chalna hai tujhe
For you burning pyres wait at every corner
death disguised as duty
your every delicate gesture, a curse
nothing but poison in the breeze
Change the season if you wish to flourish
Get up, my love, you have to walk with me
qadr abtak teri tareeKh ne jani hi nahiN tujh meN sholay bhi haiN bas ashk fishani hi nahiN tu haqeeqat bhi hai dilchasp kahani hi nahiN teri hasti bhi hai ek cheez javani hi nahiN apni tareeKh ka unvaan badalna hai tujhe
uTh meri jaan mere saath hi chalna hai tujhe
History has not known your worth thus far
You have burning embers too, not merely tears
You’re reality too, not a mere amusing anecdote
Your personality is something too, not just your youth
You’ve to change the title of your history
Get up, my love, you have to walk with me
toD kar rasm ke but band e qadamat se nikal zo’f e ishrat se nikal vahm e nazakat se nikal nafs ke kheenche hue halqa e azmat se nikal qaid ban jaye mohabbat to mohabbat se nikal raah ka Khaar hi kya gul bhi kuchalna hai tujhe
uTh meri jaan mere saath hi chalna hai tujhe
Emerge out of ancient bondage, break the idols of tradition,
the weakness of pleasure, this mirage of fragility
these self-drawn boundaries of imagined greatness
the bondage of love, for this too is a bondage
Not merely the thorns on the path but you have to trample on flowers too
Get up, my love, you have to walk with me
toD ye azm shikan daGdaGa e pand bhi toD teri Khatir hai jo zanjir vo saugand bhi toD tauq ye bhi hai zammarud ka guluband bhi toD toD paimana e mardan e Khiradmand bhi toD ban ke tufan chalakna hai ubalna hai tujhe
uTh meri jaan mere saath hi chalna hai tujhe
Shatter these resolve breaking suspicions of sermons
these vows that have become shackles
this too, this necklace of emeralds
these standards set by the wise men
You have to turn into a tempest, bubble and boil over
Get up, my love, you have to walk with me
tu Falatoon o Arastu hai tu Zohra ParviN tere qabze meN hai gardun teri Thokar meN zamiN haN uTha jald uTha pa e muqaddar se jabiN main bhi rukne ka nahiN vaqt bhi rukne ka nahiN laDkhaDayegi kahan tak ke sanbhalna hai tujhe
uTh meri jaan mere saath hi chalna hai tujhe
You are Aristotle’s philosophy, Venus, Pleiades’s
You control the sky, the earth at your feet
Yes, raise, fast, raise your forehead from the feet of fate
I too am not going to pause, nor will the time
How long would you falter, you have to be firm
Tou ne raat gawayi soye ke, diwas gawaya khaye ke,
Heera janam amol tha, kauri badle jae.
(You spent your night sleeping, your day you spent eating,
Your life was a priceless diamond, you exchanged it with Cauri)
~Kabir
Sab hi thaur jamat hamri, sub hi thaur par mela
Hum sub maye, sub hum maye, hum hain bahuri akela.
~Kabir.
(In all places my community, in all places I meet them
I am in all, all are in me, I am alone & together).
~Kabir
Blind to Bounds 
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