Moon at Half Past Noon

(Subah-e-Azadi)

This dirt smeared light,
A night afflicted by morn,
For which we lay in wait,
This is not that dawn

Not the morn,
For which we longed
We went on, friends,
In hope of a tryst,
Traveled eons
In sanctuary of the skies,
Endless frontier of stars
Will the languid nightfall
Tide over to its shore, ajar
Somewhere, will, it stand still,
This sorrowful raft.

Fury of young blood
Swept the grand boulevards.
When they swayed,
hands reached for them, the brave hearts
From the restless havens of dreams
Arms stretched in yearning
Bodies writhed invitingly, full of desire

So dear was a glimpse
Of the dawn’s first radiant ray,
So near was the nymph
Of bright heavenly day
Lucent desire,
Weariness it contained
That morn, that we longed
This is not the same.

Hear, darkness of tyranny
Has lost to the splendor of light
Hear, how feet meet the destination delight
On fate’s swift flight, changed is the way
How misery afflicts people’s plight
Lawful, alone, an admission of happiness
Sinful, pangs of separation, forbidden

Fire that rages within,
Eyes’ mischievous glimmer,
And a heart burns and grins,
This remedy for separation, relieves none
Where upon did zephyr arrive
Where to this beauty sink
Stand silent, lamps lighting
Only the darkness, within

The night hangs heavy, still
The time is not yet ripe
For an escape and liberation
For the burden of conscience
Move on, for the we are yet far
From our long cherished destination