زلزله Earthquake

زلزله

                                                                         (د هند په سمندركې دڅونامي زلزلې ۱۵۵ زره كسان ووژل)
 او زمكه ريږدي
څپې الوځي
دخلكو لو دى
لكه قيامت، موراو زوى نه پيژني
دخداى ( ج ) پر زمكه څه بلا پريوتې
چې خلك يو دبل دغوښو بوى نه پوزې نيسي
طبيعت په لوبه بوخت دى
خلكو كبان نيول خو نه وو خبر
چې دطبيعت په يوه لوبه كې به
كبان په دوى ماړه شي
  كله چې زمكه دالله (ج ) دبندګانو تر پښو لاندې راوڅرخېده
 
لويانو چيغې كړې :
يارب
يا بګوان
يا عيسى ....بودا.... موسى را ورسيږئ ...
خوماشومان او ليوني پوه نه شول
چې چا ته پاس وګوري
دوى ډېر نېكمرغه وو چې نه پوهېدل
ځكه اول يې زلزلې ته كټ كټ وخندل او وروسته مړه شول
اسمان لا شين و
چا څه ونه ويل
دڅپو غږ كې چيغې ډوبې شوې
خنداوې پراوبولاهوشوې. 
ښځې تر اوسه لا څپو ته ګوري
خو شپه تياره وي داوبو پر سر د هېڅ ماهيګير
دكوچنۍ بېړۍ څراغ نه ښكاري
په جوماتونو كې اذان
په مندرونو كې زنګونه نشته
دكليساوو صليبونه مات دي
خلك دلويو پانګه والو دخيرات په ډوډۍ
يو بل له ستوني نيسي
او ماشومان 
لاهم په خټو كې دمړو ميندو له تيو څخه وينې روي
 
*  * *
 
پر زمكه خلك ډير دي
څوك يې په جنګ څوك يې په اور كې سوځي
څوك زلزله كې تر اوبو او خاورو لا ندې ورك شي
او يوځل بيا بشر په دې پوهېږي
چې مرګ دكونډو يتيمانو غم وي
نه دهغو چې مړه شول
دمرګ غميزه لا ژوندۍ ده
دهندي او بنګالي ښځو له اوښكو سره لوبې كوي
خو ها چې مړه شول په دې نه پوهيږي .
 
*  * *
 
يو ليونى د ونې ښاخ كې ناست و
ونه ولاړه وه دخټو منځ كې
او ليونى لكه مرغه په كې ژوندى پاتې و
ليوني وژړل او ويې خندل
او بيا يې داسې وويل :
په دې دنيا كې به لا اوس هم چېرته جنګ روان وي
اوځينې خلك به دځينو خلكو وينې غواړي
دا دى طبيعت ورسره مرسته وكړه
طبيعت ډېر ووژل
نو اوس كېداى شي
جګړه ماران ماړه وي
او جګړه ودريږي ....
ليوني وژړل او ويې خندل
ونه ولا ړه وه
او دى لكه مرغه په كې ژوندى پا تې و.
 

Earthquake

And the earth shakes 
Waves take wing
People are reaped
And like Doomsday mother and son are blind to one another
What catastrophe has struck God’s earth
So that people shield their noses from the stench of flesh
Nature is playing a game 
People were fishing unaware
That in Nature’s game 
The fish will get their fill of them 
When the earth was swept from under the feet of the servants of God
The adults cried
O Lord 
O Bagwan
O Jesus… Buddha… Moses… Help
But the children and the mad didn’t know 
Whom in the heavens to ask for help
First they laughed at the tremors then died
They were blessed not to know
The sky was still blue
No one said a word
Their laughter lost in the noise of the waves 
But in the dark night
Women are still looking to the waves
For the lamp of any fisherman’s boat
There is no adhan in the mosques 
No bells are ringing in the mandirs
The church crosses are broken
People strangle one another for the charity bread of the rich
While babies
Suck blood from their dead mother’s breast
 
***
 
The earth is full of people 
Some burn in fire some in war
Some are swallowed by the earthquake under soil and water
And again humanity understands 
That death is the agony of widows and orphans 
Not those who perished 
The tragedy of death lives on 
Playing with the tears of the Indian and Bengali women
But the dead know none of this
 
***
 
A madman was sitting on a branch of the tree
The tree standing in the mud
Like a bird the madman survived 
He wept and laughed 
And said
War will still rage somewhere in this world
And some people will crave the blood of others
Here Nature helped them 
Nature wept
So that the warriors 
Might have their fill
And bring an end to war
The madman wept and laughed
The tree still stood
And like a bird he survived
 

Earthquake

(The Indian Ocean Tsunami killed 155 thousand people [in 2005])
 
And the earth/ground shakes
waves fly
People are reaped/harvested
Like the doomsday, mother and son don’t recognise each other
What a calamity/affliction has fallen upon /struck the God’s earth
That people hold their noses from the stench of their flesh (dead bodies)
Nature is playing games
People were catching fish (fishing) but didn’t know (were not aware)
that in a game of nature
fish will become full by eating them (will eat them)
When the earth/ground spun/turned under the feet of the servants of God (humans)
The adults/grown-ups yelled/cried
O’ Lord (Allah)
O’ Bhagwan
O’ Jesus…. Buddha…. Moses,  reach (help) us
But the kids and insane/madmen didn’t comprehend/know
to whom to look upto (who to ask for help)
They (kids and insane) were lucky for not knowing (being ignorant)
Because (they) first laughed out loud at/to the earthquake and then died
The sky was still blue
No one said anything
The laughter(s) sank/vanished in the sound/noise of the waves
Women are still looking at the waves
But in the dark night, the torch/light of any fisherman’s small boat is not visible/doesn’t appear) in the water
There is no Adhan (call to prayer) in the mosques
No bells are ringing in mandirs
The church crosses are broken
People hold each other’s throat over the charity/donated bread (food) by the very/highly rich/wealthy
And kids/babies
still suck blood from the breasts/bosom of dead mothers
 
* * *
 
There are lots of people on the earth (in the world)
Some (of them) burn in fire and some (burn/die) in war
Some vanish /disappear in the earthquake under the soil and water
And once again the humanity/human being comes to know
that death is the agony/grief for widows and orphans
Not for those who died/perished
The tragedy of death is still alive
playing with the tears of Hindi (Indian) and Bengali women
But those who died don’t understand know this.
 
*  * *
 
A madman/an insane person was sitting on the tree branch
The tree standing in the middle of mud
And the madman had survived in/on it like a bird.
The madman wept/cried and then laughed
and said that:
The war will still continue somewhere in this world
and some people will be wanting/craving (shedding) blood of some people
Here nature helped them
Nature wept/cried a lot
So now it is possible (that)/(it may be that)
the warriors are full/have become full
and (that) the war/fighting stops ….
The madman wept/cried and then laughed
The tree was standing
And he had survived in/on it like a bird.
 

Dawood Azami, our guest translator, explained that the poem expressed a frequent concern of Liwal’s, that there is only one humanity despite the divisions between societies and religions, that tragedy strikes us the same. This theme is explicitly explored in the poem, when Nature ravages the people in the poem (in the form of the 2004 Tsunami resulting from an earthquake) the adults, understanding their mortality, implore various deities. We chose, in translating these, to retain Liwal’s slightly unusual exclamations, allowing the Islamic context of the speaker of the poem be implied (‘Lord’ rather than ‘Allah’) and letting the unlikely pleading toward ‘Moses’ stand (rather than transposing it to ‘Yahweh’ for instance). This oddness seemed somehow fitting to trapdoor irony that poem seemed at times to contain, where lines such as “First they laughed at the tremors then died / They were blessed not to know” left us with unsure feet. What was certain, throughout, was the sincerity of feeling and the anger at the misplaced energies of ‘sane’ people, those “warriors” whose a bloodlust “Nature helped…have their fill”.

Edward Doegar, Commissioning Editor

Original Poem by

Abdul Ghafoor Liwal

Translated by

Dawood Azami with The Poetry Translation Workshop Language

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