Call of the Sea - Rendition by Zaheer Khan & Faraz Ali
Channel: Zer Zabar Paesh
Date: 2020-01-18

CALL OF THE SEA
Original Poem in Urdu ‘Samandar ka Bulava’ by Sanaullah Dar ‘Miraji’. Translated into English by Faraz Ali

Narrated by Zaheer Khan 
Kalimba performance by Faraz Ali 

English Translation

These whispers are saying “come along,
calling you again and again for years has worn-out my heart”
I have heard voices, briefly, or for longer,
But this strange one is new
Calling never wearied anyone, and perhaps never will

“My Dear Child, I love you so much!
Look! if you do this...
I’ll be furious
Oh God, Oh God!”

Some times a sob, a smile, or just a fleeting frown
these echoes are my old familiars,
With them, my fleeting life touched eternity
But this strange voice, worn-out by fatigue
Threatens to drown every echo

Now the eyes do not flicker, lips neither smile nor tense
But the ears are pricked
There is a rose-garden,
a breeze ripples
Buds burst open
Spread their perfume
bloom again & again
wither & drop
To make a ﬂoor of velvet
Where languish the fairies of my heart’s desire, with rare elegance

As if the garden is a mirror
In this mirror, every form reflected
and then was lost forever, it never surfaced.

There is a mountain, still and quiet
Does spring ever question before gushing, 
what lies beyond the cliff?
But for me, the cradle of the mountain is enough
For there’s a valley there, and a stream flows through it,
And on it floats a boat which in itself is the mirror
In this mirror, every form reflected
But when it began to fade, it never surfaced

There is a desert - vast, arid, treeless
Whose whirlwinds are the signs of fearsome ghosts
But my eyes are fixed on an oasis afar

No smile on my lips, flicker in my eyes, frown on my brow
Only a strange voice is saying:
“calling you again and again for years has worn-out my heart”
Calling never wearied anyone, and perhaps never will

Then, this voice must be a mirror 
and I must be the one weary of calling.
There’s no mountain, no desert, no garden,
Now only the sea calls out to me
Since everything comes from the sea and to it, they shall return.