My salutations to thy sacred streets, O beloved nation!
Where a tradition has been invented- that none shall walk with his head held high
If at all one takes a walk, a pilgrimage
One must walk, eyes lowered, the body crouched in fear
The heart in a tumultuous wrench at the sight
Of stones and bricks locked away and mongrels breathing free
In this tyranny that has many an excuse to perpetuate itself
Those crazy few that have nothing but thy name on their lips
Facing those power crazed that both prosecute and judge, wonder
To whom does one turn for defence, from whom does one expect justice?
But those whose fate it is to live through these times
Spend their days in thy mournful memories
When hope begins to dim, my heart has often conjured
Your forehead sprinkled with stars
And when my chains have glittered
I have imagined that dawn must have burst upon thy face
Thus one lives in the memories of thy dawns and dusks
Imprisoned in the shadows of the high prison walls
Thus always has the world grappled with tyranny
Neither their rituals nor our rebellion is new
Thus have we always grown flowers in fire
Neither their defeat, nor our final victory, is new!
Thus we do not blame the heavens
Nor let bitterness seed in our hearts
We are separated today, but one day shall be re- united
This separation that will not last beyond tonight, bears lightly on us
Today the power of our exalted rivals may touch the zenith
But these four days of omniscience too shall pass
Those that love thee keep, beside them
The cure of the pains of a million heart- breaks
The original (source)
nisaar mai.n terii galiyo.n ke ae watan, ki jahaa.N
chalii hai rasm ki koii na sar uThaa ke chale
jo koii chaahanewaalaa tawaaf ko nikale
nazar churaa ke chale, jism-o-jaa.N bachaa ke chale
hai ahl-e-dil ke liye ab ye nazm-e-bast-o-kushaad
ki sang-o-Khisht muqayyad hai.n aur sag aazaad
bahot hai.n zulm ke dast-e-bahaanaa-juu ke liye
jo cha.nd ahl-e-junuu.N tere naam levaa hai.n
bane hai.n ahl-e-hawas muddaii bhii, mu.nsif bhii
kise wakiil kare.n, kis se mu.nsifii chaahe.n
magar guzaranewaalo.n ke din guzarate hai.n
tere firaaq me.n yuu.N subh-o-shaam karate hai.n
bujhaa jo rauzan-e-zi.ndaa.N to dil ye samajhaa hai
ki terii maa.ng sitaaro.n se bhar gaii hogii
chamak uThe hai.n salaasil to hamane jaanaa hai
ki ab sahar tere ruKh par bikhar gaii hogii
Garaz tasavvur-e-shaam-o-sahar me.n jiite hai.n
giraft-e-saayaa-e-diwaar-o-dar me.n jiite hai.n
yuu.N hii hameshaa ulajhatii rahii hai zulm se Khalq
na unakii rasm naii hai, na apanii riit naii
yuu.N hii hameshaa khilaaye hai.n hamane aag me.n phuul
na unakii haar naii hai na apanii jiit naii
isii sabab se falak kaa gilaa nahii.n karate
tere firaaq men ham dil buraa nahii.n karate
Gar aaj tujhase judaa hai.n to kal baham ho.nge
ye raat bhar kii judaaii to koii baat nahii.n
Gar aaj auj pe hai taala-e-raqiib to kyaa
ye chaar din kii Khudaaii to koii baat nahii.n
ilaaj-e-gardish-e-lail-o-nihaar rakhate hai.n
Technorati Tags: Poetry, Urdu, Faiz, Translation
a reader's words 
your translation has a life of its own *not that i fully understood the original*…nicely done!
but what does this mean “Of stones and bricks locked away and mongrels breathing free”…you quoted it in the other post too
To me it signifies an inversion of roles. Stones are meant to ward off street dogs. In the situation that the poem describes, the protectors (the stones and bricks) are caged, while the dogs are left to freely roam, bark and bite. In the previous post on Imran Khan, while the secular and liberals are being jailed the Islamists are not only free, but actually helped the police in getting Imran arrested.
Hope it clarifies…
makes sense
Nice Translation. Thanks for sharing
Excellent. I was looking for a translation of these verses. Didn’t find any. May I use–of course quoting you–in an article I am writing these days?
Looking forward to your kind reply.
Sure, feel free to use it. A reference will be a appreciated.
Thank you Sir.
thank you for this translation
For the first part of third couplet” hai ahl-e-dil kay liyay ub yay nazm-e-basto kushad”, i would say that translation can be” for lively people, this is now the law of towns and cities “. nazm means discipline or law and “bast” is from bastee(towns) while kushad is taken from “kushada” means openness or cities as per my understanding.
bahot hai.n zulm ke dast-e-bahaanaa-juu ke liye
jo cha.nd ahl-e-junuu.N tere naam levaa hai.n
Enough are, for the tyrant’s excuse-seeking hand, these crazy few with thy name on their lips. “mudaee” will be plaintiff instead of prosecutor.
bujhaa jo rauzan-e-zi.ndaa.N to dil ye samajhaa hai
ki terii maa.ng sitaaro.n se bhar gaii hogii
chamak uThe hai.n salaasil to hamane jaanaa hai
ki ab sahar tere ruKh par bikhar gaii hogii
whith these couplets, Faiz sahib is beautifully depicting his days and nights in jail.
rauzan-e-zindaan is slit in the gaol.
“when the light through the slit went off, my heart thought that ….” while “silasil” are bars of jail as i think.
jo tujhase ahd-e-wafaa ustavaar rakhate hai.n
ilaaj-e-gardish-e-lail-o-nihaar rakhate hai.n
“those who keep their pledges of allegiance with thou, intact
— know how to deal with ups and downs of times
where is the tranlation. I cant find it. The page is plain?
Try refreshing the page because the translation is very much there.