Translation
I should procure such straws for
my nest from somewhere
For burning which the lightning may be restless1
Alas! O despair! The sky broke it down intently
Whichever branch I selected for my nest2
You are contending with the seventy two nations
One goblet of yours suits the whole world best3
I should create some such longing in my heart
So the sky may turn around to annihilate me best
Collect your harvest first by picking it grain by grain
Some thunderbolt will surely come out to annihilate it4
I had regard for the failure of the hunter, O friend
Otherwise, why could I come over flying for one grain ?
The heart should not sing freedom's song in this garden
Ah! This garden is not suitable for such odes5!
Explanatory
Notes
1. One should be
prepared to sacrifice everything in the Love of God.
2. Under the influence of Greek cosmology the sky was considered to control human destiny throughout the ancient world. In particular it was believed to bring ill luck. Though this belief no longer exists the expression still continues in Urdu and Persian literature.
3. Allusion to the �ad�th of the Holy Prophet S.A.W. that the Muslim Ummah would be divided into seventy two sects. However, this verse reminds Muslims that the Holy Qur’�n has been sent down to guide the entire world and unite the whole mankind into a super national society and State. So the Muslims, who are its first recipients and custodians, should keep their own brotherhood intact instead of being divided into seventy-two mutually contending sects. See the Holy Qur'�n, especially 39:41; 80:11-16; 81:26-29.
4. Verses 4 and 5 mean that the highest felicity for a Lover of God is to sacrifice all his hard-earned worldly possessions in His cause.
5. This refers to the condition of the Indian sub-continent at the beginning of the twentieth century, when nobody could sing patriotic songs.