Two Poems – Kabir and Ghalib – Translated by Ajit Singh Dutta

Where Do You Search For Me

Where do you search for me, Man? I am here next to you.

Not in pilgrimage, nor in idols, no, nor in your solitude either

I am not in your temple, not in a mosque, nor in the Kaaba, no, not in Benaras

I am here next to you, Man, I am here next to you.

I am not in meditation, not in austerity, not in asceticism, not in trances

I do not reside in actions nor in inaction, no, not in renunciation

I am here next to you, Man, I am here next to you.

I am not in the nether regions, nor in the celestial skies above

I am not manifest nor hidden, I am not in the breath of all breaths

I am here next to you, Man, I am here next to you.

Search for me and I am yours to find, now, in one instant of search

Says Kabir listen O wise Man: I am present, always, in your faith.

I am here next to you, Man, I am here next to you.

***

Moko Kahan Dhundhe re Bande

Kabir

Moko Kahan Dhundhe re Bande, Main To Tere Paas Mein

Na Teerath Mein, Na Moorat Mein Na Ekant Niwas Mein

Na Mandir Mein, Na Masjid Mein Na Kabe Kailas Mein

Mein To Tere Paas Mein Bande Mein To Tere Paas Mein

Na Mein Jap Mein, Na Mein Tap Mein Na Mein Bhrat Upvaas Mein

Na Mein Kiriya Karm Mein Rehta Nahin Jog Sanyas Mein

Mein To Tere Paas Mein Bande Mein To Tere Paas Mein

Nahin Pran Mein Nahin Pind Mein Na Brahmand Akas Mein

Na Mein Prakuti Prawar Gufa Mein Nahin Swasan Ki Swans Mein

Mein To Tere Paas Mein Bande Mein To Tere Paas Mein

Khoji Hoye Turat Mil Jaoon Ik Pal Ki Talas Mein

Kahet Kabir Suno Bhai Sadho Mein To Hun Viswas Mein

Mein To Tere Paas Mein Bande  Mein To Tere Paas Mein

This Was Never My Fate

This was never my fate, meeting Her was not to be

Were I to live longer, this yearning still would be

To survive on your promises is to know them as false

Wouldn’t I have died of happiness if I believed you truly

Those sidelong glances of yours, ask me of their pain

They throb half buried, from pain I am never free

What friendship is this, that friends are now counselors

Someone to share my heartache, someone set me free

To whom should I complain of dreaded nights of longing

To die often of hope, what if death came once to set me free

If after death I am disrespected, why didn’t I die of drowning

No corpse to be found, no funeral procession, no tomb to mark me

These knotty Sufisms, your wise testimony Ghalib

We’d take you for a saint, except you’re a drunk to me

Ye Na Thi Hamari Kismat

Mirza Asadullah Ghalib

Yeh Na Thi Hamari Kismat

Ye Na Thi Hamari Kismat ke Wisaal e Yaar Hota

Agar Aur Jeete Rehte Yehi Intezaar Hota

Tere Waade Pe Jiye Hum to Ye Jaan Jhoot Jana

Ke Khushi Se Mar Na Jaate Agar Aitbaar Hota

Koi Mere Dil Se Pooche Tere Teer Neem Kash Ko

Ye Khalish Kahan Se Hoti Jo Jigar Ke Paar Hota

Ye Kahan Ki Dosti Hai Ke Bane Hain Dost Naaseh

Koi Chara Saaz Hota Koi Gham Gusar Hota

Kahoon Kis Se Main Ke Kya Hai, Shab e Gham Buri Bala Hai

Mujhe Kya Bura Tha Marna Agar Aik Baar Hota

Hue Mar Ke Hum Jo Ruswa, Hue Kyun Na Gharq e Darya

Na Kabhi Janaza Uthta Na Kahin Mazaar Hota

Ye Masail e Tasawwuf, Yeh Tera Bayaan Ghalib

Tujhe Hum Wali Samajhte Jo Na Bada Khwar Hota

Ajit Singh Dutta is a Sikh American author, currently living in the metropolitan D.C. area. He has an MFA from the University of California, Riverside, and has lived and worked on four continents. For many years, he ran a successful international, financial-management consulting company. He is a published poet in English and his poems have been anthologized. His translations of Urdu ghazals have appeared in Lunch Ticket. His latest book, A Lover’s Sigh, a translation of 50 Urdu poems by 14 Urdu poets, is available on Amazon.