The full Urdu text of Ishrat Afreen’s moving new poem Azadaran-e-Hussain Ke Naam (To the Mourners of Hussain) is as follows – followed by my humble translation in English:
عزاداران حسین ع کے نام
جشن کی مانند تیاری نہ کر
رسم کی صورت عزاداری نہ کر
اے عزادار حسین ابن علی
اس طرح زہرا کی دلداری نہ کر
نرم کر اس سے زمیں دل ذرا
اشک آنکھوں سے فقط جاری نہ کر
لاج رکھ فرش عزا کی لاج رکھ
دوسروں کی بھی دل آزاری نہ کر
بنکے رہ جائے نہ اک فرقے کی رسم
کربلا اس رنگ میں طاری نہ کر
رونے والوں جیسی حالت بھی بنا
صرف رونے کی ادا کاری نہ کر
لال میرے یوں نہ زلفوں کو جھٹک
نوحہ پڑھ نوحہ کلا کاری نہ کر
فرش پر تشریف فرما ہیں بتول ع
گریہ کر للّٰہ فنکاری نہ کر
(Do not prepare for it like a festival
Do not mourn in the shape of a ritual
O mourner of Hussain ibn Ali
Do not treat Zahra so generously
Soften the earth of the heart with it, a bit
Do not make the eyes just shed tears
Preserve the dignity of the mourning floor, preserve its dignity
Do not fill the hearts as well with anxiety
Lest it is reduced to becoming a ritual of a sect
Do not be overcome by this colour of Karbala, it is imperfect
Make your condition, too, like those who are crying
Do not indulge in mere crying by acting
My dear, do not, like this, jerk your tress
Mourn, mourn, by your performance do not impress
Batool is seated on the floor in all her majesty
Lament for God’s sake, shun artistry!)
Raza Naeem is a Pakistani social scientist, award-winning translator and dramatic reader based in Lahore, where he is also the president of the Progressive Writers Association. He is currently working on a book Sahir Ludhianvi’s Lahore, Lahore’s Sahir Ludhianvi, forthcoming in 2021. He can be reached at razanaeem@hotmail.com
