Syed Ahmed Shah (03-08-1960 / Guwahati, Assam, India)

Translation of a poem by The Last Mughal Bahadur Shah Zafar

My heart finds no solace
In this barren garden
Who has ever found fulfillment
In this mortal realm

Tell these desires of mine
To seek their home elsewhere
How much pain can dwell
In this battered heart

As answer to my quest for a long life
Four days were granted
Two, wasted in prayers
Two, in anticipation

O Zafar, you son of misfortune
It is not in your fate
To get two yards of earth
In the land of your beloved


Translated by Syed Ahmed Shah