Nazrul’s Musafir, Mochh re Aankhi Jol (O wayfarer, wipe your tears) has been translated from Bengali by Professor Fakrul Alam.
O wayfarer! Wipe your tears,
Return only with yourself.
The flower blooming on its own
Shed all by itself.
O foolish one! So hapless is your state,
Will you now build your nest in water?
Thirsts are not quenched here
For this is no lake to allay thirsts.
Will the bokul that didn’t bloom in monsoon
Blossom when it’s winter?
On this path forever, errors shed
Covering the grove of frustration.
Oh poet! You’ve illuminated many lamps
With your own light
But your own revered Krishna hasn’t come
To light up the darkness pervading your world.
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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