The Poetry of Grief
Poems on war by Wilfrid Wilson Gibson and Iftikhar Arif
In this season of warfare, Anjum Altaf engages with two poems that speak to its underlying meaninglessness, desolation, and tragedy.
‘Lament,’ a poem by Wilfrid Wilson Gibson (1878-1962) is transcreated into Urdu under the mentorship of Muhammad Saleemur Rahman sahib. aaKhrii aadmi ka rajaz by Iftikhar Arif (1940-) is transcreated into English with no one to share the credit or the blame.
Lament
We who are left, how shall we look again
Happily on the sun or feel the rain
Without remembering how they who went
Ungrudgingly and spent
Their lives for us loved, too, the sun and rain?A bird among the rain-wet lilac sings—
But we, how shall we turn to little things
And listen to the birds and winds and streams
Made holy by their dreams,
Nor feel the heart-break in the heart of things?
nauha
hum jo haiN yahaaN abhii
hum jo bach gaye yahaaN
kaisey muskuraayeN ge
kaisey dekh paayeN ge
aaftab ke jalvey
aur meeNh ke ye cheeNTey
kaisey ro’eN ge un ko
jo bichaR gaye hum se
de gaye humeN sub kuch
un ko bhi to bha’ey they
aaftab ke jalvey
aur meeNh ke ye cheeNTey
meeNh se bhiigey bhiigey phuul
aur ye parinda jo
in meN chehchahaata hai
choTii choTii baatoN ko
kaisey yaad rakheN ge
ye hava’eN aur baadal
ye ravaaN davaaN nadyaaN
jin pe un ke KhwaaboN se
chaa’oN hai uluuhii sii
aur hum na jaaneN ge
un ke dil kahaaN TuuTey
aur huey doneem aaKhir!
aaKhrii aadmi ka rajaz
masahebeen-e shah mutma’in hue ke sarfaraaz sarbareeda baazu’uN samait
shehr ki faseel par laTak rahey haiN aur har taraf sukoon hai
sukoon hi sukoon haifughaan-e khalq ahl-e taifah ki nazar ho gayii
mata-e sabr wahshat-e dua ki nazar ho gayii
umeed-e ajr be-yaqeeni-e jazaa ki nazar ho gayii
na aitbaar-e harf hai na abroo-e khoon hai
sukoon hi sukoon haimasahebeen-e shah mutma’in hue ke sarfaraaz sarbareeda baazu’uN samait
shehr ki faseel par laTak rahey haiN aur har taraf sukoon hai
sukoon hi sukoon haiiKhaleej-e iqtidaar sarkashoN se paaT di gayii
jo haath aayii daulat-e ghaneem baanT di gayii
tanaab-e Kheyma-e lisaan-o lafz kaaT di gayii
fiza woh hai ke arzoo-e Khair tak junoon hai
sukoon hi sukoon haimasahebeen-e shah mutma’in hue ke sarfaraaz sarbareeda baazu’uN samait
shehr ki faseel par laTak rahey haiN aur har taraf sukoon hai
sukoon hi sukoon hai
We Won
All’s well, courtiers tell their kings
pointing to headless, limbless bodies
strung across city walls.
Drums of war drown questioning voices,
fervid prayers consume the fruit of patient toil,
honest work is lost to lust for gain,
words are stripped of meaning,
blood is sacred no more.
All’s well.
All’s well, courtiers tell their kings
pointing to headless, limbless bodies
strung across city walls.
Crumbling walls are plastered with rebel skulls,
diminished fortunes swell with ill-got loot,
language is rendered incapable of meaning,
words float free of truth,
peace is now a quest for fools.
All’s well.
All’s well, courtiers tell their kings
pointing to headless, limbless bodies
strung across city walls.
Anjum Altaf is the author of Transgressions and More Transgressions, two volumes of poems inspired by Faiz Ahmed Faiz.