Start at

 

Kisi ka hukm hai
Saari hawayein
Hamesha chalne se pehle batayein
Ke unki samt ( direction) kya hai
Hawaon ko batana yeh bhi hoga
Chalengi jab tto kya raftaar hogi
Ke aandhi ki ijazat ab nahi hai
Hamari ret ki yeh sab faseelein (ramparts)
Ye kagaz ke mahal
Jo ban rahe hain
Hifazat inki karna hai zaruri
Aur aandhi hai purani inki dushman
Ye sab hi jaante hain

Kisika hukm hai
Dariya ki lehren
Zara ye sarkashi ( strong headedness) kam kar lein
Apni hadd mein thehrein
Ubharna phir bikharna
Bikhar kar phir ubharna
Galat hai unka ye hungama karna
Yeh sab hai sirf vehshat ki alamat (signs of insanity)
Baghavat ki alamat
Baghavat tto nahi bardasht hogi
Ye vehshat tto nahi bardasht hogi
Agar lehron ko hai dariya mein rehna
Tto unko hoga bas chupchap behna

Kisika hukm hai
Is gulsitaN mein
Bas ab ik rang ke hi phool honge
Kuch afsar honge
Jo ye tai karenge
GulistaN kis tarha banna hai kal ka
Yaqeenan phool ikrangi tto hongey
Magar ye rang hoga kitna gehra kitna halka
Ye afsar tai karenge
Kisiko ye koi kaise bataye
GulistaN mein
Kahin bhi phool ikrangi nahi hotey
Kabhi ho hi nahi sakte
Ki har ik rang mein chupkar
Bahut se rang rehte hain
Jinhone baagh ikrangi banana chahe thay
Unko zara dekho
Ke jab ik rang mein sau rang zahir ho gayein hain tto
Woh ab kitne pareshaN hain
Woh kitne tung ( harassed )rehte hain

Kisiko ye koi kaise bataye
HawayeiN aur lehreN
Kab kisika hukm sunti hain
HawayeiN
Hakkimon ki mutthiyon mein, hathkadi mein qaidkhano mein
Nahi ruktin
Yeh lehren roki jaati hain
Tto dariya kitna bhi ho pursukoon ( calm)
Betaab hota hai
Aur is betaabi ka agla qadam
Sailab (flood )hota hai.
Kisiko ko ye koi kaise bataye

Javed Akhtar

Someone has decreed
That all the winds
Must first
Announce their direction
Before blowing

The winds must first also inform
That when they blow what would be their speed
For, storms are no longer permitted
And all these ramparts that we have built of sand
These paper palaces that have been made
It is important to protect them
The storm is their old foe
As everyone knows

Someone has decreed
That the waves in the river
Must curb their rebellion
They must stay within their limits
Their dashing and rising and dashing yet again
Only to rise
It is wrong of them to be so wilful
It is nothing but a portent of madness
An augury of rebellion

A rebellion will not be tolerated
This madness will not be accepted
If the waves want to stay in the river
They must now flow quietly

Someone has decreed
That all the flowers will henceforth be of one colour
There will be some officers who will decide
How the gardens of tomorrow will take shape

Certainly the flowers will all be of one colour
But how deep the colour or how light
Will be decided by the officers

How is one to tell them
That in no garden anywhere are all the flowers of one colour
They cannot be
For, many colours live together hiding in one colour
Look at the fate of those who have
Tried to make their garden all of one colour
See how a hundred colours have seeped into a single colour
How troubled they are
How worried they look

How is one to tell them
When have the winds and the waves ever heeded anyone’s decree
The winds do not stay
In the clenched fists of the rulers
In prisons
And in handcuffs

When these waves are stopped
The river, no matter how placid
Becomes restless
And this restlessness is a step away
From a flood

How is one to tell them…

Translated from the Urdu by Rakhshanda Jalil