A poem by Faiz Ahmed Faiz copied from “bol ke lab azaad hai tere”:
bol ke lab aazaad haiN tere
bol zabaaN ab tak terii hai
teraa sutvaaN jism hai teraa
bol ke jaaN ab tak terii hai
dekh ke aahaNgar kii dukaaN meN
tuNd haiN shole surKh hai aahan
khulne lage qufloN ke dahaane
phailaa har ek zanjiir kaa daaman
bol ye thoRaa vaqt bahut hai
jism-o-zubaaN kii maut se pahle
bol ke sach ziNdaa hai ab tak
bol jo kuch kehnaa hai keh le
English translation:
Speak up, while your lips (thoughts) are (still) free
speak up, (while) your tongue is still yours
Speak, for your strong body is your own
speak, (while) your soul is still yours
Look at blacksmiths shop
hot flames makes the iron red hot
opening the (jaws of) locks
every chain opens up and begins to break
speak for this brief time is long enough
before yours body and words die
speak, for the truth still prevails
speak up, say what you must.
[Trans. Swati Sani]
When I read the poem, I thought it was great! And I wanted to say the words already. Then I heard Faiz recite it here (first audio clip), and I thought to myself, “how would I say these words?”.
So here it is, me reciting Faiz’s “bol ke lab azaad hai tere”:
[audio:http://www.jaaduhai.com/tunes/adnan/recite1.mp3]
If it plays funny above, you can access the direct link here:
http://www.jaaduhai.com/tunes/adnan/recite1.mp3
The first bol of many I hope. =D
oooo! Did noori not have a song which started with that line as well..or was it eP…hmm I’m sure it wasn’t call. Confuse kar diya. Lovely poem.
oh, i LOVED it, adnan!
i hope you do many more of these – i enjoyed it so much.
i actually liked your version better than that of Faiz himself. =) his seemed a bit monotone, after yours.
enjoying tina sani’s version right now, too…
so cool hearing your voice recite this. funny how voices seem so disembodied – i hung out with you in toronto and heard you talk all the time, but hearing JUST your voice here made it seem like i was listening to a completely different person.
thank you for sharing your voice, and the poetry. again, i’m really looking forward to future postings like this. =)
thanks yasmine!
I suppose in ways, I am a different person.
=)
yaaaaaaaaaaaar! this mp3 came onto my ipod in the last syncing that i did, and inevitably, your recitation came on in the car while i was driving my WHOLE FAMILY. maddd awkward tryign to explain who this ladka is who is recording poetry for me.. lol!! eventually they believed me — that its just some weird boy on the internetS. =P
hahaha… you couldn’t tell them it was some famous internet person?
=) they don’t know that…
haha, but you are not so famous yet, my friend.
yet. 😉
=) they don’t know that…