Afzal Ahmed Syed reciting a poem by Faiz Ahmed Faiz for mediastudies.asia. Recording and photo: Aamir Khadim. Karachi 19th May 2016.

English translation:

Landscape

The roadside shadows, houses, walls, the rim of rooftops;
over the rooftops the moon bared her breast, softly
like a woman who has just unfastened her blouse, softly,

There is a lake of blue under the edge of the rooftops,
blue of frozen shadows.

In that blue lake the bubble of a leaf floats in silence,
floats for a moment, sails and breaks, softly.

Very softly, very pale, the faint color of wine
fills my glass, softly.

The wine glass, the wine bottle, the roses of your hands
emerge like the memory of a dream, come into being
and dissolve, softly.

The heart repeats some words of love, softly.
You said, “More softly.”
The moon went down and said, “Still more softly.”

(The True Subject. Selected Poems by Faiz Ahmed Faiz. Translated by Naomi Lazard. Karachi: Oxford University Press 2012)

Photo: Markus Heidingsfelder