Aasi Zameeni
Preacher!
o preacher! a bit softly
here,
near this worship place,
a worker’s starving children
have only just drowsed off
o muezzin! a bit softly
careful
lest a child awakes
and seeing her hearth cold,
the mother’s heart shatters
o muezzin! a bit softly
listen,
the bell of some distant mill
echoes
and from far away
its chimney smoke
beckons me
o muezzin! a bit softly
this hour is sacred to me
this hour that slakes
my hunger
and to light the hearth
I bring a spark
from this chimney
o muezzin! a bit softly
but you,
fed on manna from heaven,
what sense can I make to you –
amidst the roar of my guts
the call to worship is meaningless
Translated by Nauman Naqvi
Poet: Aasi Zameeni
مؤذن!
شاعر: آسي زمیني
او مؤذن! ٿورو آهستي
هِن مسجد جي ڀرپاسي ۾
زڪنهن ڀورهيت جا ڪي پيٽ بکيا
مَس ها ڻي آهن ٻار سُتا
او مؤذن! ٿورو آهستي
ڏِس ٻار متان ڪو پي جا ڳي
۽ پنهنجي ٺريل چُلھ ڏسي
ڪنهن جيجل جو پي جيءُ جُهري
او مؤذن! ٿورو آهستي
ڏِس دور ڪٿي ڪنهن مِلً منجهان
آواز اچي پيو ٿو گھنڊ جو
۽ دونهن پري کان چمنيءَ جو
پيو مون کي پنهنجي طرف ڇڪي
او مؤذن! ٿورو آهستي
هي گھنڊ مقدس آمون لهءِ
جو منهنجي بک مِٽاءي ٿو
۽ پنهنجي چولھ جي ٻارڻ لهءِ
مان چڻنگ وٺان ٿو چمنيءَ کان
تون پاليل من وسلوا جو
هي ڳالھ ڪثي ٿو تون سمجھين
آنڊن جي هن شوروغُل ۾
آوازِ اذان بي معنيٰ
Aasi Zameeni was born in 1957 in Tando Qaiser, Sindh. He remains astonished by the memory of his first ghazal, which came to him as a young child when he was heading to give breakfast to his father. His poetic thought soon began to garner appreciation, and was nurtured under the critical influence of the Sindhi Adabi Sangat. Sufi poetry remains the foremost inspiration for his work. Zameeni’ s first book of poems was published in 1992, titled “Manjtaa je runjj mein” (In the Desert of Acceptance). He currently resides in Hyderabad.
نوٹ: یہ نظم اور اس کا ترجمہ اس سے پہلے امنگ میں شائع ہو چکا ہے۔
