An Address To The Cloud Poem by Muhammad Shanazar

(Being influence by Magh Daut of Kali Daas)

O! Cloud where you have hailed from and where you will soar to,
Tell me whether you will ever come near me,
You dwell sometimes in the sky and sometimes on the mountains,
You change yourself into thousands of characters,
Now you seem to be a dervish, and then intoxicated, drunk,
You become rosy by dissolving into twilight,
Now a lonesome woman wrapped in the veil,
Then like adolescence lost on the route of life,
Or like a symphony dispersed on the shoulders of breeze,
Or like a mile of blossomed light amid the valleys,
Or like extended arms of the gorgeous damsel,
Or like depressed eyes of an aged being.

Today I share with you a secret
That floats in the pulsating heart,
I plead when you rise from Anderpuri,
Suggest for me some pleasant journey,
Where I may find a new world of roses,
And a swarm of swans along the banks of a lake,
At least someone should come to realize my dream,
And fulfill the timeworn promises,
Someone should propose to lose together in silences,
To sleep in the tent of soft clouds,
Where there loyalties reign in the eye-sights,
Where hearts palpitate with excessive love,
Where should blossom the colours of rainbow on the beloved friend,
And from the delicate movements spills wine,
We wish too, to nestle in the hem of air,
And rise in the sky becoming dark clouds,
But you did not heed to my appeal,
You did not say me anything, nor did you touch me with damp fingers,
You left for the alien land along with Kinnars,
Pledging that you would return one day along with winds.

But who know how many how many saawan have passed away,
Sedge along the banks of my river has withered,
I have heard you rained well on the alien lands,
But my home could not get a moment of your love,
Neither did my heart elate, nor did burn the lamps of union,
Neither did come across any friend, nor did get any confidant, nor pain sharing partner,
Even today I am hopeful,
That you will bring along cool winds,
I have a lot of queries for the wishes,
And wait for your pledged return.

Lest the river of life should remain thirty,
Lest the season of my thought should go ahead gasping,
Come to my village just for a few moments,
For a while drizzle on the path of my house,
Then who knows whether I shall be there anymore,
Who knows whether I shall reveal secret to you or not,
Be not ashamed when wanderlust will torment you,
Visit my abode holding finger of my thought.
O! Cloud where you have hailed from and where you will soar to.

Written by Jagdish Prakash
Translated by Muhammad Shanazar