Blind to Bounds

“Aurat” by Kaifi Azmi

With the current state of woman in the subcontinent, we need to remind ourselves of how progressive poets like Kaifi Azmi not 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

Get up, my love, you have to walk with me.