The Egalitarian

( A Translation of Kazi Nazrul Islam's famous Bengali poem "Samyabadi") I sing the song of equality, in which all obstacles and distance are dissolved, in which the Hindus, the Buddhists, the Muslims and the Christians have got united. I sing the song of equality! Who are you? A Persian? A Jain? A Jew? A Santhal, a Bhil, a Garo? A Confucian? A follower of Charbak? Continue. Tell more. O friend, whoever you are, whatever books and scriptures you carry into stomach, on back, on shoulder and into brain, the Quran, the Puranas, the Vedas, the Bible, the Tripitaka— the Zend-Avestha, the Granth Sahib— read as much as you desire. But why do you waste your labour? Why are you throwing spears into your brain? Why do you haggle in a shop when fresh flowers bloom at your roadside? The wisdom of all scriptures and ages lie within you. O friend, open your heart, you will find all scriptures there. Within you lie all religions, all the prophets of all ages and your heart is the world-temple of everyone’s gods. Why do you look for God in the skeletons of dead books? He smiles into the secret concealment of your immortal heart! O friend, I have not told a lie— It is the place where all crowns tumble and toss. This very heart is the Nilachal, Kashi, Mathura, Brindaban; It is Bodh-Gaya, Jerusalem, Medina and Kaaba. It is the mosque, it is the temple, it is the church; Sitting here, Jesus and Moses found the identity of truth. In this battlefield, the young flute player sang the Bhagavad Gita; In this pasture, the sheep-grazing prophets became friends to God. Sitting in the meditation-cave of this heart, Shakyamuni abandoned his kingdom hearing the call of men’s great sufferings. In this cave, the Prince of Arabia used to hear the divine call; sitting here, he sang the Quran’s equality-song. O brother, what I have heard is not a lie— there is no temple, no Kaaba greater than this heart. Translation date: 1/3/2016 Sirajganj, Bangladesh