Nazrul’s lyrics translated by Professor Fakrul Alam
DO LOVE MY SONGS
Dearest, even if you won’t love me,
Do love my songs.
Who remembers forest birds
When they cease singing and fly out of sight?
Whoever wants the moon by itself?
Everyone enthuses only about moonlight!
No one ever notices how wicks get burnt
When lamps emit their light!
Cut stems drip tear drops
But in time blossom as flowers.
But when plucking flowers and taking them away,
Do you ever think of helping the plant in any way?
All quench their thirsts with river water
But the act parches the riverbed so!
Seek, seek the river’s water in an ocean of sorrow…
But dearest, even if you won’t love me
Do love my songs!
Born in united Bengal, long before the Partition, Kazi Nazrul Islam (1899-1976) was known as the Bidrohi Kobi, or “rebel poet”. Nazrul is now regarded as the national poet of Bangladesh though he continues a revered name in the Indian subcontinent. In addition to his prose and poetry, Nazrul wrote about 4000 songs.
Fakrul Alam is an academic, translator and writer from Bangladesh. He has translated works of Jibonananda Das and Rabindranath Tagore into English and is the recipient of Bangla Academy Literary Award (2012) for translation and SAARC Literary Award (2012).
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