"Who is it who just came close to me" | Anwar Nadeem (1937-2017) | Translation: Saira Mujtaba

Born in our past, that boy has grown up
His pain being that he opened his eyes amidst the strangest people

Someone tell him, that your father sings paens of loyalty
Someone tell him, that your mother too has set foot in the city of love

Someone tell him, that your life is touching a turf of bonds,
That was erstwhile untouched by the rays of union

For who had ever given consent till now that a Jāt girl’s desires,
Would tread the path of love holding Pathān hands?

For when from the lands of Pathāns, a banner of endearment had ever risen so high?
A keeper of happiness, a figure of benevolence

When have such stories of moderation ever been rewarded?
When have the limits of clans ever witnessed such passion?

Born in our past, that boy has grown up
His pain being that he opened his eyes amidst the strangest people

He verily knows that in the heartbeats of the Jāts, his father
Occupies a strange yet interesting place; being an example of love

In temples of knowledge, his mother stands tall as an example of dignity,
Igniting the eternal lamps of love all around

Isn’t it enough that a portion of the great inheritance of love,
Bestows a life with dignity and sprinkles flowers on someone’s path?

But how will this small thing ‘Anwar’ ever be comprehended?

Born in our past, that boy has grown up
His pain being that he opened his eyes amidst the strangest people

- Anwar Nadeem (1937-2017)

Translated from Urdu by Saira Mujtaba