For word meanings and explanatory discussion in English click on the “Roman” or “Notes” tab.
Recitation
کون آزاد ہوا ۔ شاہد
۱
کون آزاد ہوا ہے یہ کیا مجسّم ہے
ہے جشنِ حرّیت بھی، یہ تابوت بھی ہے
پتھر کی لکیروں سے لکھا اُس پہ یہی کہتا ہے
۲
“یہاں نہیں کوئی جابر نہ فاتحِ یوناں
نہ غاضی کوئی نہ قزّاق جس کے نوکِ سناں
ظلم و تشدید کریں از کراں تا بہ کراں
۳
بس ایک حرّیت ہے مجسّم، اور باوقار ہے وہ
خیر مقدم کی شمع، مادرِ نادار ہے وہ
۴
جہانِ کہنہ کے غارت گروں سے یہ کہہ دو
کہ اپنی شان کو شوکت کو اپنے پاس رکھو
تھکے ہوؤں کو، مصیبت زدوں کو یاں بھیجو
۵
پھیلی یہاں ہے مشعلِ اُمّید کی ضیا
زرّین در ہے میرا ہمیشہ کھلا ہوا”
۶
کیا کہا؟ پتھر کی لکیروں سے لکھا؟
۷
کھٹکھٹا جاتی ہے دروازہ جنوبی کوئی ماں
ہے یہ فریاد کہ خطرے میں ہے بچّوں کی بھی جاں
تجھ سے ہے سوال کہ اُمّید کی مشعل ہے کہاں
بچّوں کو چھینے گود سے ایسی تیری اماں
۸
رکو، رکو، یہ تو قصّہ بہت پرانا ہے
یہ شمع حُرّیت نہیں مخصوص اِک دکھاوا ہے
وہیں جزیرۂ آمد میں میں نے دیکھا ہے
۹
“کہیں نہیں ہے، کہیں بھی نہیں لہو کا سُراغ
نہ دست و ناخنِ قاتل، نہ آستیں پہ نشاں”
مری نگاہ نے ڈھونڈھا مگر کہیں نہ مِلا
جو یاں کی خاک کے پالے تھے اُن کے خوں کا نشاں
جو خود ہی اپنے وطن میں جِلا وطن ٹھہرے
اِنساں نہیں جو مستحقِ حُرّیت ٹھہرے
۱۰
یہیں قریب میں حبشی جو میرا بھائی تھا
کر کے اغوا جس کو پکڑ کے لایا تھا
جو طوق و سلاسل کے ساتھ ہاتھ ہاتھ بکا
میری نگاہ نے ڈھونڈھا مگر کہیں نہ مِلا
نیلام کا کٹہر نہ وہ چابُک کا نشاں
۱۱
اب حُرّیت کے مُجسّم سے یہ بھی کہہ دیجے
لوٹ جاتی ہے اُدھر کو بھی نظر کیا کیجے
اب بھی دِلکش ہے تیرا حُسن مگر کیا کیجے
कौन आज़ाद हुआ – शाहेद
१
कौन आज़ाद हुआ है ये क्या मुजस्सम है
है जश्न-ए हुर्रियत भा, ये ताबूत भी है
पत्थर कि लकीरौं से लिखा उस पे यही कहता है
२
“यहां नहीं कोई जाबेर न फ़ातेह-ए यूनां
न ग़ाज़ी कोई न क़ज़्ज़ाक़ जिस के नोक-ए सिनां
ज़ुल्म ओ तश्दीद करें अज़ करां ता ब करां
३
बस एक हुर्रियत है मुजस्सम और बा-वेक़ार है वो
ख़ैर-मक़्दम कि शम’अ, मादर-ए नादार है वो
४
जहान-ए कोहना के ग़ारत गरौं से ये कह दो
के अपनी शान को शौकत को अपने पास रखो
थके हुऔं को, मुसीबत-ज़दौं को यां भेजो
५
फैली यहां है मश’अल-ए उम्मीद कि ज़िया
ज़र्रीन दर है मेरा हमेशा खुला हुआ”
६
क्या कहा? पत्थर कि लकीरौं से लिखा?
७
खटखटा जाती है दरवाज़ा जुनूबी कोई मां
है ये फ़रयाद के ख़तरे में है बच्चौं कि भी जां
तुझ से सवाल है ये के उम्मीद कि मश’अल है कहां
बच्चौं को छीने गोद से ऐसी तेरी अमां
८
रुको, रुको, ये तो क़िस्सा बहुत पुराना है
ये शमा’-ए हुर्रियत नहीं मख़्सूस एक दिखावा है
वहीँ जज़ीरा-ए आमद में मैं ने देखा है
९
कहीं नहीं है, कहीं भी नहीं लहू का सुराग़
न दस्त ओ नाख़ुन-ए क़ातिल न आस्तीं पे निशां
मेरी निगाह ने ढूँढा मगर कहीं न मिला
जो यां कि ख़ाक के पाले थे उन के ख़ूं का निशां
जो ख़ुद हि अपने वतन में जिला-वतन ठहरे
इन्सां नहीं जो मुस्तहक़-ए हुर्रियत ठहरे
१०
यहीं क़रीब में हब्शी जो मेरा भाई था
कर के अग़्वा जिसे पकड़ के लाया था
जो तौक़ ओ सलासल के साथ हाथ हाथ बिका
मेरी निगाह ने ढूँढा मगर कहीं न मिला
नीलाम का कटहर न वो चाबुक का निशां
११
अब हुर्रियत के मुजस्सम से ये भी कह दीजे
लौट जाती है उधर को भी नज़र क्या कीजे
अब भी दिलकश है तेरा हुस्न मगर क्या कीजे
Click here for background and on any passage for word meanings and explanatory discussion. I wrote this after a recent visit to the Statue of Liberty and the Ellis Island National Museum of Immigration. I combined the thought with Independence Day celebrations 2018. Laws prohibiting slave trade were being discussed in the Engish Parliament in the 1770s. This threatened the slave owning colonizers of America. That is one of the reasons they rebelled. The other reason was that the government in England was signing treaties with Natives limiting the westward expansion of settlement. The colonizers did not like that. That is the second reason they rebelled. Thus the so called “War of Independence” was really a “War for Colonization and Slavery”.
1
kaun aazad hua hai ye kya mujassam1 hai
hai jashn2-e hurriyat3 bhi ye taaboot4 bhi hai
pathar ki lakeerauN se likha us pe yahi kahta hai 1.molded into a statue 2.celebration 3.freedom 4.coffin
Who has gained freedom, what is it that is symbolised in this statue. This is a celebration of freedom, and also its coffin. Engraved on the base, written in lines of stone, this is what it declares … What follows in quotes is a versified translation of Emma Lazarus’ poem taking a few liberties, but mostly true to spirit.
2
“yahaaN nahiN koi jaaber1 na faateh-e-yunaaN2
na Ghaazi3 koii na qazzaaq4 jin ke nok-e sinaaN5
zulm6 o tashdeed7 kareN az-karaaN-ta-ba-karaaN8 1.oppressor 2.Greek hero 3.victorious 4.robber 5.point of spear 6.cruelty 7.oppression 8.from end to end
This is an approximate versified translation of Emma Lazarus.
“There is no oppressor, no Greek hero here. No tyrant victorious over all and who under the point of a spear, spreads cruelty and oppression from end to end …
3
bas1 ek hurriyat2 hai mujassam3 aur ba-viqaar4 hai vo
Khair-maqdam5 ki sham’a6, maadar-e-naadaar7 hai vo 1.enough, only 2.freedom 3.personfied, symbolized into a statue 4.dignified 5.welcome 6.lamp, torch 7.mother of destitutes, Mother of Exiles (in Emma Lazarus’ poem)
… Only freedom and dignity, personified (in this statue), welcoming all with the glow of its torch. Mother of Exiles.
4
jahaan-e-kohna1 ke Ghaarat-garauN2 se ye kah do
ke apni shaan3 ko shaukat4 ko apne paas rakho
thake5 huauN ko, museebat-zadauN6 ko, yaaN bhejo 1.old world 2.destroyers, oppressors 3.pomp 4.glory 5.tired 6.prey of difficulties/calamities
… Tell the oppressors of the old world to keep their pomp and glory to themselves and send here their tired and their poor.
5
phaili yahaaN hai mash’al1-e ummeed2 ki zia3
zarreen4 dar5 hai mera hamesha6 khula hua” 1.torch 2.hope 3.light 4.golden 5.door 6.always
The light of the torch of hope spreads here. My golden door is always open to everyone.
6
kya kaha? patthar ki lakeerauN se likha? What did you say? Carved in lines of stone
7
khaTkhaTa1 jaati hai darvaaza junoobi2 koii maaN
hai ye faryaad3 ke Khatre4 meN hai bachchauN ki bhi jaaN
tujh se savaal hai ye ke ummeed ki mash’al5 hai kahaaN
bachchoN ko chheene goad6 se, aisi teri amaaN7 1.knocking repeatedly 2.southern 3.appeal 4.danger 5.torch 6.lap 7.refuge, protection
A mother knocks repeatedly at the southern door. She appeals that even the life of her infants is in danger. She asks of you, where is the torch of hope. Snatching babies from mothers’ laps! Is this the refuge you give!
8
ruko, ruko, ye to qissa bahut puraana hai
ye shama’-e hurriyat1 nahiN maKhsoos2 ek dikhaava3 hai
vahiN jazeera-e-aamad4 meN maiN ne dekha hai 1.liberty 2.special, selected 3.display, illusion 4.island of arrival, Ellis Island
But wait, this is an old story. This is not the torch of freedom. It is a show for the selected. I saw it on the island of arrival (Ellis Island)
9
kahiN nahiN hai, kahiN bhi nahiN lahu1 ka suraaGh2
na dast3 o naaKhun4-e qaatil5, na aastiN6 pe nishaaN
meri nigaah7 ne DhoonDha magar kahiN na mila
jo yaaN ki Khaak8 ke paale9 the un ke KhooN ka nishaaN
jo Khud hi apne vatan10 meN jila-vatan11 Thahre
insaaN nahiN jo mustahaq12-e hurriyat13 Thahre 1.blood 2.clue, stain 3.hand 4.finger nail 6.sleeve 7.eyes 8.dust 9.nurtured 10.homeland 11.exiled 12.deserving 13.freedom
The first two misra are borrowed from faiz’s ‘lahu ka suraaGh’. Nowhere could I find, nowhere is there any clue, of blood. Not on the hands or fingernails of the killer. Nor on his sleeve. There is no stain. My eyes searched but could not find any trace of the blood of those who were the children of this soil; who were exiled in their own homeland; who were not human enough to deserve freedom.
10
yahiN qareeb1 meN habshi2 jo mera bhaaii tha
kar ke aGhva3 jise pakaR ke laaya tha
jo tauq4 o salaasal5 ke saath haath-haath6 bika
meri nigaah ne DhoonDha magar kahiN na mila
neelaam7 ka kaTahr8 na vo chaabuk9 ka nishaaN 1.near by 2.negro 3.kidnap 4.shackles 5.chains 6.hand to hand, quickly 7.auction 8.cage 9.whip
Just here, close by, negro, my brother, kidnapped and brought here in shackles and chains and quickly sold. My eyes searched but could not find the cage in which he was held for auction, nor the whip.
11
ab hurriyat1 ke mujassam2 ko ye bhi kah deeje
lauT3 jaati hai udhar ko bhi nazar4 kya keeje
ab bhi dilkash5 hai tera husn6 magar kya keeje 1.freedom/liberty 2.statue, personfication 3.turns 4.sight, eyes 5.pleasing 6.beauty
Tell the Statue of Liberty that sometimes my eyes turn towards those scenes (of the native and the negro slave), what can I do. Your beauty is still pleasing, but I cannot help it. This she’r of course is borrowed from faiz’s celebrated ‘mujh se pahli si mohaabat’.
I wrote this after a recent visit to the Statue of Liberty and the Ellis Island National Museum of Immigration. I combined the thought with Independence Day celebrations 2018. Laws prohibiting slave trade were being discussed in the Engish Parliament in the 1770s. This threatened the slave owning colonizers of America. That is one of the reasons they rebelled. The other reason was that the government in England was signing treaties with Natives limiting the westward expansion of settlement. The colonizers did not like that. That is the second reason they rebelled. Thus the so called “War of Independence” was really a “War for Colonization and Slavery”.
1
kaun aazad hua hai ye kya mujassam1 hai
hai jashn2-e hurriyat3 bhi ye taaboot4 bhi hai
patthar ki lakeerauN se likha us pe yahi kahta hai
1.molded into a statue 2.celebration 3.freedom 4.coffin
Who has gained freedom, what is it that is symbolised in this statue. This is a celebration of freedom, and also its coffin. Engraved on the base, written in lines of stone, this is what it declares … What follows in quotes is a versified translation of Emma Lazarus’ poem taking a few liberties, but mostly true to spirit.
2
“yahaaN nahiN koi jaaber1 na faateh-e-yunaaN2
na Ghaazi3 koii na qazzaaq4 jin ke nok-e sinaaN5
zulm6 o tashdeed7 kareN az-karaaN-ta-ba-karaaN8
1.oppressor 2.Greek hero 3.victorious 4.robber 5.point of spear 6.cruelty 7.oppression 8.from end to end
This is an approximate versified translation of Emma Lazarus.
“There is no oppressor, no Greek hero here. No tyrant victorious over all and who under the point of a spear, spreads cruelty and oppression from end to end …
3
bas1 ek hurriyat2 hai mujassam3 aur ba-viqaar4 hai vo
Khair-maqdam5 ki sham’a6, maadar-e-naadaar7 hai vo
1.enough, only 2.freedom 3.personfied, symbolized into a statue 4.dignified 5.welcome 6.lamp, torch 7.mother of destitutes, Mother of Exiles (in Emma Lazarus’ poem)
… Only freedom and dignity, personified (in this statue), welcoming all with the glow of its torch. Mother of Exiles.
4
jahaan-e-kohna1 ke Ghaarat-garauN2 se ye kah do
ke apni shaan3 ko shaukat4 ko apne paas rakho
thake5 huauN ko, museebat-zadauN6 ko, yaaN bhejo
1.old world 2.destroyers, oppressors 3.pomp 4.glory 5.tired 6.prey of difficulties/calamities
… Tell the oppressors of the old world to keep their pomp and glory to themselves and send here their tired and their poor.
5
phaili yahaaN hai mash’al1-e ummeed2 ki zia3
zarreen4 dar5 hai mera hamesha6 khula hua”
1.torch 2.hope 3.light 4.golden 5.door 6.always
The light of the torch of hope spreads here. My golden door is always open to everyone.
6
kya kaha? patthar ki lakeerauN se likha?
What did you say? Carved in lines of stone?
7
khaTkhaTa1 jaati hai darvaaza junoobi2 koii maaN
hai ye faryaad3 ke Khatre4 meN hai bachchauN ki bhi jaaN
tujh se savaal hai ye ke ummeed ki mash’al5 hai kahaaN
bachchoN ko chheene goad6 se, aisi teri amaaN7
1.knocking repeatedly 2.southern 3.appeal 4.danger 5.torch 6.lap 7.refuge, protection
A mother knocks repeatedly at the southern door. She appeals that even the life of her infants is in danger. She asks of you, where is the torch of hope. Snatching babies from mothers’ laps! Is this the refuge you give!
8
ruko, ruko, ye to qissa bahut puraana hai
ye shama’-e hurriyat1 nahiN maKhsoos2 ek dikhaava3 hai
vahiN jazeera-e-aamad4 meN maiN ne dekha hai
1.liberty 2.special, selected 3.display, illusion 4.island of arrival, Ellis Island
But wait, this is an old story. This is not the torch of freedom. It is a show for the selected. I saw it on the island of arrival (Ellis Island)
9
kahiN nahiN hai, kahiN bhi nahiN lahu1 ka suraaGh2
na dast3 o naaKhun4-e qaatil5, na aastiN6 pe nishaaN
meri nigaah7 ne DhoonDha magar kahiN na mila
jo yaaN ki Khaak8 ke paale9 the un ke KhooN ka nishaaN
jo Khud hi apne vatan10 meN jila-vatan11 Thahre
insaaN nahiN jo mustahaq12-e hurriyat13 Thahre
1.blood 2.clue, stain 3.hand 4.finger nail 6.sleeve 7.eyes 8.dust 9.nurtured 10.homeland 11.exiled 12.deserving 13.freedom
The first two misra are borrowed from faiz’s ‘lahu ka suraaGh’. Nowhere could I find, nowhere is there any clue, of blood. Not on the hands or fingernails of the killer. Nor on his sleeve. There is no stain. My eyes searched but could not find any trace of the blood of those who were the children of this soil; who were exiled in their own homeland; who were not human enough to deserve freedom.
10
yahiN qareeb1 meN habshi2 jo mera bhaaii tha
kar ke aGhva3 jise pakaR ke laaya tha
jo tauq4 o salaasal5 ke saath haath-haath6 bika
meri nigaah ne DhoonDha magar kahiN na mila
neelaam7 ka kaTahr8 na vo chaabuk9 ka nishaaN
1.near by 2.negro 3.kidnap 4.shackles 5.chains 6.hand to hand, quickly 7.auction 8.cage 9.whip
Just here, close by, negro, my brother, kidnapped and brought here in shackles and chains and quickly sold. My eyes searched but could not find the cage in which he was held for auction, nor the whip.
11
ab hurriyat1 ke mujassam2 ko ye bhi kah deeje
lauT3 jaati hai udhar ko bhi nazar4 kya keeje
ab bhi dilkash5 hai tera husn6 magar kya keeje
1.freedom/liberty 2.statue, personfication 3.turns 4.sight, eyes 5.pleasing 6.beauty
Tell the Statue of Liberty that sometimes my eyes turn towards those scenes (of the native and the negro slave), what can I do. Your beauty is still pleasing, but I cannot help it. This she’r of course is borrowed from faiz’s celebrated ‘mujh se pahli si mohaabat’.
The New Colossus
Emma Lazarus, 1849 – 1887
Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,
With conquering limbs astride from land to land;
Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand
A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame
Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name
Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand
Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command
The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.
“Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!” cries she
With silent lips. “Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”
The beautiful ideal/idea is not being knocked down here; it is limited to the white race the poem states. Enslaving the black race and killing off the brown race has been going on right under the nose of the mashal-e-hurriyet.
Strong statements, powerful words. Do they fit the multi-sided reality? I am not sure. The mashaal-e hurriyat simply symbolizes an ideal, a longing society has of an ideal world where anyone can migrate to anywhere where the pasture is greener. No more than a beautiful idea. If you knock that down, what have you got left?