Sunday, January 21, 2007

har roz har jaga

2 comments:

sumayya said...

salam,
thanks for posting.. did you write this? and do you think you could help with the translation? this is courtesy a friend, who wasn't sure he had everything right:

every day, in every place

why are you sitting quietly in the circle (battle field)?
what are you seeing in the enemy’s face?
Don’t hesitate, be steadfast, speak out
Go forward, all together
Everyone has a turn, but how will you go forward?
Everyone has to be present, how will you speak?
From some blood that spilled the truth became manifest
There were thousands crying but no one did a thing
There were thousands crying but no one did a thing
Millions stayed silent and acquiesced
Those who were not even aware(?), think what happened to them

malangbaba said...

wa salaam,

yes I wrote it. I had not even been thinking about Muharrum, and these same thoughts were in my head because of whats going here regarding the targetting of Muslims and the accompanying silence....

The translation is good. It certainly captures one perspective, that on the plains of Karbala. One of the reasons I didnt translate it originally is that Urdu allows such a rich multiplicity of meanings that English mostly loses...

here is what i translated:
every day every place
why do you remain silent even when surrounded?
what are you looking for in the face of the enemy?
break open, shatter yourself, speak up
draw strength, take support, move onwards
the turn will come for everyone, but how will you go?
the presence will be made by everyone, what will you say?
some spoke with their blood and awakened the Truth
thousands remained crying and yet did nothing
millions stayed quiet and so became complicit
those who never knew, think about what they lost