Eyes Urdu Poems

No Explanation! (I)
by Ahmad Faraz
loose translation by Michael R. Burch

Please don't ask me how deeply it hurt!
Her sun shone so bright, even the shadows were...

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These are English translations of Urdu poems by Faiz Ahmad Faiz. 



Speak!
by Faiz Ahmed Faiz
loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

Speak, while your lips are still...

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I hail Thee
For the life you give me
I hail Thee
For the love you shower me
I hail Thee for the message you send me
I thank you
For...

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Excerpts from "Cordoba"
by Allama Iqbal
loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch



Withered Roses
by Allama Iqbal
loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

What shall I call you,
but the nightingale's desire?

The...

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Excerpts from "The Tulip of Sinai"
by Allama Iqbal
loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch



Withered Roses
by Allama Iqbal
loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

What shall I call you,
but...

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ALLAMA IQBAL TRANSLATIONS INTO MODERN ENGLISH



Ehad-e-Tifli (“The Age of Infancy”)
by Allama Iqbal aka Muhammad Iqbal
loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

The earth and the heavens remained...

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Last Curtain
by Rabindranath Tagore
loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

I know the day comes when my eyes close,
when my sight fails,
when life takes its leave in...

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I Cannot Remember My Mother
by Rabindranath Tagore
loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch
 
I cannot remember my mother,
yet sometimes in the middle of my playing
a melody...

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O God!
by Qateel Shifai
loose translation by Michael R. Burch

Torture my heart, O God!
If you so desire, leave me a madman, O God!

Have I asked for...

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The Condition of My Heart
by Munir Niazi
loose translation by Michael R. Burch
 
There's no need for anyone else to get excited:
The condition of my heart...

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My Apologies, Sona
by Gulzar
loose translation by Michael R. Burch

My apologies, Sona,
if traversing my verse's terrain
in these torrential rains
inconvenienced you.

The monsoons are unseasonal here.

My poems' pitfalls...

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Intimacy
by Rahat Indori
loose translation by Michael R. Burch
 
I held the Sun, Stars and Moon at a distance
till the time your hands touched mine.
Now I...

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Near Sainthood
by Mirza Ghalib
translation by Kanu V. Prajapati and Michael R. Burch

On the subject of mystic philosophy, Ghalib,
your words might have seemed deeply profound
and we...

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ALLAMA IQBAL TRANSLATIONS INTO MODERN ENGLISH



Excerpt from Rumuz-e bikhudi (“The Mysteries of Selflessness”)
by Allama Iqbal aka Muhammad Iqbal
loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

Like a candle...

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The Owl and the Crow


The hunter captured the owl
He brought her home to his castle
Inside a cell she was put
Away from the rain

The owl, never...

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