A Short English Poem ---- And Its Urdu Rendition

[Afzal A. Khan]

Naazireen,

Some years back, I had posted a few English poems, along
with their renditions in Urdu.......

In this context, I recollect Shelley's "Ode To The West Wind"
and also Robert Southey's "The Cataract of Lodore", so beauti-
fully rendered in Urdu by Akbar Ilaahabadi........

And also Thomas Grey's "Elegy Written In A Country
Churchyard" --- and its brilliant Urdu rendition by Janaab
Ali Haidar Nazm Tabatabaaii.....


Perhaps "Father William" too. But I do not quite recollect it......



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Today, I would like to present another English poem, along with
its rendition in Urdu.....

The English poet was Francis William Bourdillon.

He was born on the 22nd March 1852, in the town of Runcorn in
Cheshire County, England.

Cheshire is a county in the North-West area of England, near the
city of Manchester in Lancashire.

Runcorn is an industrial town and cargo port in the Borough of
Halton in Cheshire.

Runcorn's present population is around 65,000. But when the
abovenamed poet {F.W. Bourdillon} was born in 1852, its
population was just around 9,000.



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Bourdillon was the eldest son of a priest, Rev. Francis
Bourdillon, who was the perpetual curate of the town.

Educated at Haileybury College and Worcester College, Oxford,
F.W.B. completed his B.A. in 1877 and M.A. in 1882. From 1876
to 1879, he acted as tutor to the sons of Prince Christian of
Schleswig-Holstein.

Later, he lived in Easbourne in Sussex County, on the southern
coast of England.

F.W.B. passed away on the 13th January 1921.


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Apart from being a poet, F.W.B. is also known as a translator and
an essayist.

He had many collections published, including "Among The Flowers
And Other Poems" (1878), "Miniscula (Lyrics of Nature, Art and Love},
Siftings of three smaller volumes of verse published anonymously
at Oxford in 1891, 1892 and 1894, "Gerard and Isabel : a romance in
Form of Chantefable (1921) and also "Chryseis and Preludes and
Romances (in 1908).


{BTW, "Chantafable" refers to a story told in alternating
sections of verse and prose --- the former being sung and the
latter being recited.}


In 1896, F.W.B. published a romantic novel "Nephele. He also
translated a 13th century French story "Aucassin et Nicolette"
as "Aucassin and Nicolet", in 1887.


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He also authored a scholarly work "The Early Editions of the Roman
de la Rose (in 1906) as well as "Russia Reborn" in 1917

A collection of his essays was published by the Religious Tract
Society.



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Here is his English poem. It is quite short.........


N I G H T


The night has a thousand eyes,
And the day but one;
Yet the light of the bright world dies
With the dying sun.


The mind has a thousand eyes,
And the heart but one;
Yet the light of a whole life dies,
When love is done.



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And here is its rendition in Urdu...........



G H U R O O B --- E --- M E H R



Shab-e-taareek ka chehra, hazaaroN chashm se raushan
Faqat ik aaNkh se hai roz-e-raushan ki yeh taabaani

Magar sooraj huwa ruKHsat, ke sab taabiNdagi ruKHsat

HazaaroN chashm-e-beena se dimaaGH-e-KHurda'beeN raushan
Faqat ik aaNkh se qaaim, dil-e-raushan ki taabaani

Magar ulfar huwi ruKHsat, ke noor-e-zindagi ruKHsat



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The translator was one Syed Min'hajuddin Rudaulvi.



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Afzal

[Zoya]

Afzal sahib,

Exquisite, both the original poem and the Urdu translation. Thanks for sharing these gems.

______Zoya

[B.G. M.]

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

G H U R O O B --- E --- M E H R



Shab-e-taareek ka chehra, hazaaroN chashm se raushan
Faqat ik aaNkh se hai roz-e-raushan ki yeh taabaani

Magar sooraj huwa ruKHsat, ke sab taabiNdagi ruKHsat

HazaaroN chashm-e-beena se dimaaGH-e-KHurda'beeN raushan
Faqat ik aaNkh se qaaim, dil-e-raushan ki taabaani

Magar ulfat huwi ruKHsat, ke noor-e-zindagi ruKHsat

The translator was one Syed Min'hajuddin Rudaulvi.

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Waa..h!
Mujhe to Urdu tarjumaa original angrezi nazm se bhi ziyadah achChhaa lagaa, kyaa kehne!
Shukriya, Afzaal Saahab, isay yahaaN chaspaan karne ke liye.🙏

“ Magar ulfat huwi ruKHsat, ke noor-e-zindagi ruKHsat !”

How true, how realistic! Beautiful !!!

[Irfan Abid]

muhtaram Afzal sb, aadaab arz hai!

Thanks for sharing this short, but powerful poem and its wonderful translation.

niyaazmand,
Irfan :Abid:

[nagesh]

Afzal Sahib:
Thanks for posting this. I was not aware of either the original or the translation. The poem is, indeed powerful. A couple of comments:
1. The use of suraj instead of khursheed or aaftaab struck me as odd. The three words have different wazn, so the poet might have been motivated by the need to adhere to the chosen meter. That is just a guess; I have not tried scanning the verse.
2. There is a small typo in the last line. I think you meant "ulfat."
Thanks again!

Nagesh

[Afzal A. Khan]

Thanks for the correction......

MaiN to ab tak yehi samajhta tha ke saHeeH
lafz "ulfar" hi hai !!



Afzal