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THINGS
Can you hear?
Things speak.
This is the tanboora
on which Bhittai played,
From its strings
bloomed flowers,
Showering their fragrance on all.
This is the spindle-wheel
which Kabir spun
And the entire land
was woven into its texture.
This is the rope
with which Nana Sahib was hung
and which still swings
Waiting for goodness knows
who else's head.
You are trying to make sense of
my poetry,
Listen,
In history's museum
Things speak.
Translated in English by
Asif Farrukhi
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The
poet’s work,
for all time and ages, lives on!
The
work of a great poet represents the coming together of different and
discordant elements. Shaikh Ayaz too is such a poet. In one of his early
poems he writes of the two deities from classical India: Saraswati, the
goddess of knowledge and music sitting together with Kali, the wanton
goddess of blood and violence, the two of them sipping nectar in a
moon-lit temple. "How have the two come together?" the poem
contemplates and then comes up with the answer: Perhaps a great poet has
been born. Ayaz's poetry must have been born in such an instant since it
represents the coming together of diverse elements --- beauty and
the shadow of death. Shaikh Ayaz is one of the major voices in twentieth
century poetry. His literary career spanned almost six decades and
displayed an amazing variety in poetry and prose, ranging from the
traditional bait, wa'i and ghazal to plays in verse, prose poems and
even musings, and extending to short fiction, memoirs and journals,
polemical and literary essays, newspaper articles, editorials, even a
projected novel. To each genre he brought his unique vision and
transforming power of language.
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Essays I
Books I
Poetry in Sindhi I
Poetry in Urdu I English
Translation I
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Photo Gallery I
Links I
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