The Beginning Of Speech By Adonis In Hindi/Urdu Translation Poem by Ravi Kopra

Ek baar jo main bacha tha
mere paas aaya
ajeeb chera tha us ka
kuch nahin bola

hum chup-chaap chlaty rahay
ek doosray ko dekhtay huay
hamaaray paaon k beech
ek ajeeb dariya beh raha tha

hum milay thay acHay karya-kam se
aur en chaadron se jo uD rahi hain
ab hawaa main, bhir alag ho gaye hum
badaltay mausamoN k paani ne
hamary beech ek jungle khaDa kar diya

jo bacha main ek baar tha
aao, mere saamnay aao -
kya hamain ab mila raha hai
kya kahain hum ab ek doosray ko?

***

The Beginning of Speech
BY ADONIS
TRANSLATED BY KHALED MATTAWA

The child I was came to me
once,
a strange face
He said nothingWe walked
each of us glancing at the other in silence, our steps
a strange river running in between

We were brought together by good manners
and these sheets now flying in the wind
then we split,
a forest written by earth
watered by the seasons' change.

Child who once was, come forth—
What brings us together now,
and what do we have to say?

Adonis, "The Beginning of Speech" from Selected Poems, translated by Khaled Mattawa.