We Are The People Who Once Sacrificed Their Lives Poem by Kazi Nazrul Islam

We are the people who once sacrificed their lives
for truth and righteousness.
We brought to this earth equality and fraternity,
We bound her in a bond of friendliness and unity.
From underneath the fiery desert sand
we brought forth cool soothing waters
and quenched the thirst of the sin-ridden universe
We are the people who broke down the walls
that had put the poor below
and the rich above.
We preached the doctrine of equality and love.

Not for the Muslims alone had Islam come.
One who owed allegiance to Allah
and sought truth above all things
was indeed a true Muslim.
We belong to the same people
who once wiped out the difference
between the prince and the pauper.
To us all men are free and equal.
We were the first to liberate the female,
we gave her equal rights with the male.
We demolished the false barriers
that men had built to keep men apart.
We removed the veil
from the face of the night,
and brought to the world the light
of hope and happiness.

[Original: Dharmer pathe shahid jahara; Translation: Kabir Chowdhury]