Bol ki thoda waqt bohut hai

बोल, कि लब आज़ाद हैं तेरे
बोल, ज़बां अब तक तेरी है
तेरा सुतवां जिस्म है तेरा
बोल, कि जाँ अब तक तेरी है
देख कि आहन-गर की दुकां में
तुन्द हैं शोले, सुर्ख हैं आहन
खुलने लगे कुफ्लों के दहाने
फैला हर इक ज़ंजीर का दामन
बोल, कि थोड़ा वक्त बहुत है
ज़िस्मों ज़ुबां की मौत से पहले
बोल, कि सच ज़िन्दा है अब तक
बोल, जो कुछ कहना है कह ले

_ फैज़ अहमद फैज़

Speak up, while your lips (thoughts) are (still) free
speak up, (while) your tongue is still yours
Speak, for your strong body is your own
speak, (while) your soul is still yours
Look at blacksmiths shop
hot flames make the iron red hot
opening the (jaws of) locks
every chain opens up and begins to break
speak for this brief time is long enough
before your body and words die
speak, for the truth still prevails
speak up, say what you must.

Such strong and powerful urdu words of Faiz Ahmed Faiz, translating them into English does not bring out the power the verse contains.

8 thoughts on “Bol ki thoda waqt bohut hai”

  1. Nice poem. And I still think you’ve done a good job translating, especially for someone like me who would not have understood the blacksmith analogy. 🙂

  2. Thank you for that…I have recently been immersing myself in poetry of various kinds, whether set to music or not…and with your permission, I would like to direct of western Massachusetts, and to this poem. May I?

    I too feel while translating that I am doing less than justice to the poem…

    Can Urdu also be written in the Devanagari script? Or is this the courtly, tameez-bhari Hindi of Kanpur and Lucknow?

    1. This post is a public post, so you can direct people to it 🙂

      Urdu finds its origin in India, just like Hindi does, both pertain to the northern parts of the country, and are spoken similarly. Urdu and Hindi are not different from one another, there was an anology I read somewhere comparing Urdu and Hindi as sisters, they share a lot in common. So it is not a surprise that a lot of people like me who love Urdu and Hindi both, but do not know the Urdu script, use devanagari script to write Urdu.

  3. Context

    Maybe the context of the poem will make it more clear

    The poet is a revolutionary and is reciting to a fellow revolutionary going to the gallows…. and just achieving freedom for himself – the references to the chains opening up.

    That said Urdu poetry almost always can be interpreted at multiple levels

  4. lovely

    I came here thanks to ‘s direction; so glad I did!

    It’s very powerful even in the translation! I love the line, speak for this brief time is long enough… oh, surely this is true… time may be short when you’re happy but long when you’re suffering…

    Does the poet also have words to give us the courage to speak? Because that’s sometimes what I find is lacking, in my case.

  5. ये आज ही देखा। आपको मित्रसूची में शामिल कर रहा हूँ। उम्मीद है कि नागरी पढ़ने को मिलती रहेगी।

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