WE POOR EASTERNERS HAVE BEEN ENTANGLED IN THE WEST

Translation
We poor Easterners have been entangled in the West
All crystal decanters are there, only an old earthen jar is here

All will be annihilated in this age except the one
Who established in his ways and firm in his thought is

O Shaikh and Brahman do you listen to what people with insight say?
Heaven from great heights has thrown down those nations

Who formerly had assemblies of affection with firm love
Now under discussion is Urdu and Hindi or Dhib� and Jhatk� 1


Explanatory Notes
1.
Dhib� - is the Muslim way of killing an  animal for food, in which the name of God is invoked as a mark of dedication of the food to Him. Jhatk� is the Sikh way of doing the same in which the animal is killed with one stroke, separating the head from the body. The Sikhs were and still are so adamantly against Dhib� that they would not eat the meat of an animal killed with that process. The mention of these controversies is no exaggeration. They did rise in the serious political parleys between Muslims  and Hindus in the twenties and thirties. The name of the India�s national language was so controversial that Hindus insisted that it should be Hindi though Urdu had been the official language of the Indian sub-continent during the two hundred years of British rule. Even in the discussions during the proceedings of the commission appointed by Mr. M.K. Gandhi for  drafting the educational policy of independent India, known as the �W�rdh� Scheme� this name was under hot discussion. Even Mr. Gandhi�s modest suggestion of using the term �Hindust�n�� was rejected by the Hindu members. This happened in spite of the great reverence in which Hindus held Mr. Gandhi. The partition of India and its  aftermath could have been avoided  with a little toleration and understanding. This matter has been discussed earlier also.