FOR HABIB JALIB
(1)Eyes that nurtured dreams
about the oppressed
of the earth are closed
where are the hands,
with blood in every pore,
that wrote about light.
Snuffed out in time’s
fireplace is voice
whose each timbre
had tongues of fire.
His spirit of inquiry
endures : “How can
fettered feet dance?
How can peace and
oppression co-exist?”
His poems rejected
each act of oppression.
He sang about freedom
for the down trodden,
betterment of humanity.
The crazed vagabond, Jalib,
leaves the world.
Spread your arms my country,
my soil, your poet is here,
(1) Pakistan’s foremost poet of protest (1928-1993)
(Translated by Prakash Chander)
