Nazrul’s Tumi Shundor Tai Cheye Thaki (Because you are so beautiful, I keep looking at you) has been translated from Bengali by Professor Fakrul Alam.
BECAUSE YOU ARE SO BEAUTIFUL
Because you are so beautiful, I keep looking at you
Dearest, is that my real offence? If the chokor bird* cries
While looking at the moon, the moon doesn’t shush it.
Because I keep looking at flowers about to bloom
Do flowers ever scold me? While viewing clouds
Parched birds pine for rain, but the clouds don’t protest then.
Even when they know the sun won’t shine on them,
Silly sunflowers aren’t appeased. They are truly content
Only when looking at their God. Charmed by your beauty,
I got my sight back. Now, dearest, let my eyes have their feel!
*Partridge, a bird that is said to feed on moonbeams in mythology
Below is a rendition of the song in Bengali
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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