Faiz Ahmed Faiz Translations

These are English translations of Urdu poems by Faiz Ahmed Faiz, whose name is also frequently spelled Faiz Ahmad Faiz. 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. The Deserts of Solitude by Faiz Ahmed Faiz translation by Michael R. Burch In the wastelands of solitude, my love, the echoes of your voice quiver, the mirages of your lips waver. In the deserts of alienation, out of the expanses of distance and isolation's debris the fragrant jasmines and roses of your presence delicately blossom. Now from somewhere nearby, the warmth of your breath rises, smoldering forth an exotic perfume: gently, languorously. Now far-off, across the distant horizon, drop by shimmering drop, fall the glistening dews of your beguiling glances. With such tenderness and affection—oh my love!— your memory has touched my heart's cheek so that it now seems the sun of separation has set; the night of blessed union has arrived. Tonight by Faiz Ahmed Faiz translation by Michael R. Burch Do not strike the melancholy chord tonight! Days smoldering with pain in the end produce only listless ashes ... and who the hell knows what the future may bring? Last night’s long lost, tomorrow's horizon’s a wavering mirage. And how can we know if we’ll see another dawn? Life is nothing, unless together we make it ring! Tonight we are love gods! Sing! Do not strike the melancholy chord tonight! Don’t harp constantly on human suffering! Stop complaining; let Fate conduct her song! Give no thought to the future, seize now, this precious thing! Shed no more tears for temperate seasons departed! All sighs of the brokenhearted soon weakly dissipate ... stop dithering! Oh, do not strike the same flat chord again! Sing! Wasted by Faiz Ahmed Faiz loose translation by Michael R. Burch You have noticed her forehead, her cheeks, her lips... In whose imagination I have lost everything. Countless by Faiz Ahmed Faiz loose translation by Michael R. Burch I recounted the world's countless griefs by recounting your image countless times. Speak, in this last brief hour, before the bold tongue lies dead. Speak, while the truth can be spoken. Say what must yet be said. Keywords/Tags: Urdu, love poems, night, memory, heart, spring, desert, voice, sun, song, grief, truth