O, How Your Heroism Inspired Me Poem by Ghulam Ahmad Mahjoor

O, how your heroism inspired me
To gladly pledge my youth, only to find
My life now lying shattered around me I

You chose not to remember the devotion that made
This breast bare itself to bullets and to bombs.

Who knows who whispered what to you
To plant mistrust in your mind !

What's amazing is that our sworn enemies
Are now closeed with you as dearest friends !

You roam in gay abandon with these souls,
While I still nurse the wounds of bygone times.

Should this city of love permit knaves
To press their claims, and leave
The salt of the earth bewildered and lost ?

May I remind you of all your vows of youth ! -
Were they firm promises, or just fairy tales ?

One by one, my illusions crumble down every day -
That's the wages of loving you, my friend !

Remember the ventures you once strongly abhorred !
How come they now receive your strongest favour ?

O, restrain the arrows of your eyes from slaughter -
What a shame aiming them at the poor alone !

When our lord of love assumed the rule of the world,
Those that were mere sparks started soaring in the sky !

But O ! how long can this confrontation last -
Your great might against my feeble wherewithal !

I am confused by the terms 'oppressor' and 'victim',
For those who then flaunted the victim's badge
Have emerged as your worst oppressors !

How much can Mahjoor relate or keep on record ?
But the memory of your tyranny will remain evergreen !

[Translated by: Triloki Nath Raina]