Nazrul’s Lyrics translated from Bengali by Professor Fakrul Alam
Pictures from Public Domain
Generations after generations I’ve trod the path of hope.
Yet, O desert wayfarer, there seems to be no border in sight.
Year after year have come and gone for someone like me.
When I tried quenching my thirst even as my eyes watered
Lighting up hope’s lamp futilely, mirages crowded my vision.
Hundreds of songs seemed to sing out of desert groves
Which once upon a time must have been part of the ocean.
Desert wayfarer that I am, I see its watery expanse in dreams
And think of the ocean’s bottom, where my craft had sunk—
A craft I was in with my mate whom I keep looking for now!
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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