From The Rebel's Silhouette, Faiz Ahmed Faiz
Translated from Urdu by Agha Shahid Ali
In Faiz's poetry, suffering is seldom, perhaps never, private (in the sense the suffering of confessional poets is). Though deeply personal, it is almost never isolated from a sense of history and injustice. In a very famous poem, Faiz breaks from Urdu's traditional way of looking at the Beloved. Not only does he refuse to despair but, in a radical departure from convention, asks the Beloved - even while acknowledging her immense importance - to accept his social commitment as more important than their love. This was a revolutionary poem, envied by many Urdu poets who wished they had first broken from the tradition in which everything was either the Beloved or nothing.
...It does some plain speaking...granting love its due but no more.
But there were other sorrows, comforts other than love.
The rich had cast their spell on history:
dark centuries had been embroidered on brocades and silks
Bitter threads began to unravel before me
as I went into alleys and open markets
saw bodies plastered with ash, bathed in blood.
I saw them sold and bought, again and again.
This too deserves attention. I can't help but look back
when I return from those allies - what should one do?
And you are still so ravishing - what should I do?
There are other sorrows in this world,
comforts other than love
Don't ask me, my love, for that love again.
Whole thing here.
