Click here for background and on any passage for word meanings and explanatory discussion. syed ather husain razvi kaifi azmi (1919-2002), azamgaRh. Poet, lyricist, labour organizer, Communist Party member, Progressive Writers’ Association and film maker. Awarded padma shri, and urdu academy awards from uttar pradesh, maharashtra and dehli.
1
aaj ki raat bahut garm havaa chalti hai
aaj ki raat na footpath pe niind aayegi
sab uTho, maiN bhi uThuN tum bhi uTho, tum bhi uTho
koi khiRki isi divaar meN khul jaayegi   Workers have spent all day building mansions for the rich and powerful. At the end of the day, they have to content themselves with sleeping on the sidewalk. But the wind is burning hot and it is not possible to sleep. He calls upon comrades to rise, everyone of them. Perhaps a window, an opportunity for liberation will open up in the very wall that obstructs progress.
2
ye zamiN tab bhi nigal¹ lene pe aamaada² thi
paaNv jab TooTti shaaKhoN se utaare ham ne
un makaanoN ko Khabar³ hai na makinoN⁴ ko Khabar³
un dinoN ki, jo guphaaoN⁵ meN guzaare ham ne   1.swallow 2.willing, ready 3.awareness, knowledge 4.residents, owners 5.caves
This earth was ready to swallow us even when we first stepped down from the trees to the earth i.e. in the early days, before we were civilized it was ‘survival of the fittest’, ‘dog eat dog’, fighting for scarce resources. Neither these mansions nor the residents of the mansions seem to have any awareness of the days that we/humans spent in caves. We are out of the caves and supposed to be civilized now.
3
haath Dhalte¹ gaye saaNche² meN to thakte kaise
naqsh³ ke baad naye naqsh³ nikhaare⁴ ham ne
kii ye divaar buland⁵, aur buland, aur buland
baam-o-dar⁶ aur, zaraa aur saNvaare⁷ ham ne   1.cast 2.moulds 3.picture, sketch, plan 4.made fresh, refined 5.high, strong 6.roof and door, houses, shelters 7.embellished
Our hands got cast in new moulds, we acquired new strength and new skills. How could these hands get tired. How could they rest. We refined plan after plan, making sheltering walls stronger and stronger, embellishing mansion after mansion.
4
aaNdhiyaaN toR liyaa karti thiiN sham’oN ki laveN¹
jaR² diye is liye bijli ke sitaare ham ne
ban gayaa qasr³ to pahre⁴ pe koi baiTh gayaa
so rahe Khaak⁵ pe ham shorish⁶-e taamiir⁷ liye   1.flame 2.embedded, embroidered 3.mansion 4.guard 5.dust 6.tumult, agitation 7.construction, progress
Winds, forces of nature could out the flames of candles that we had lit, leaving us vulnerable. So we embedded electric stars to light the mansion i.e. we invented and made all the conveniences of life. But when the mansion was complete, someone usurped it and set a guard at the door leaving us in the dust, agitating for progress.
5
apni nas¹ nas meN liye mehnat²-e paiham³ ki thakan⁴
band aaNkhoN meN usi qasr⁵ ki tasviir⁶ liye
din pighaltaa hai usi tarah saroN par ab tak
raat aaNkhoN meN khaTakti hai siyah⁷ tiir liye   1.nerve, fibre 2.labour 3.constant 4.fatigue 5.mansion 6.image 7.dark
Every fibre of the body tired with constant struggle, we still imagined in our dreams pictures of that mansion that we had built. The days melted/passed over our heads the same as before. Nights pricked our eyes like dark arrows.
6
aaj ki raat bahut garm havaa chalti hai
aaj ki raat na footpath pe niind aayegi
sab uTho, maiN bhi uThuN tum bhi uTho, tum bhi uTho
koi khiRki isi divaar meN khul jaayegi   Workers have spent all day building mansions for the rich and powerful. At the end of the day, they have to content themselves with sleeping on the sidewalk. But the wind is burning hot and it is not possible to sleep. He calls upon comrades to rise, everyone of them. Perhaps a window, an opportunity for liberation will open up in the very wall that obstructs progress.