Hum Dekhenge
Faiz Ahmed Faiz
Hum dekhenge
Lazim hai ke hum bhi dekhenge
Wo din ke jis ka wada hai
Jo lauh-e-azl mein likha hai
Jab zulm-o-sitam ke koh-e-garan
Rooi ki tarah ur jaenge
Hum mehkoomon ke paaon tale
Ye dharti dhar dhar dharkegi
Aur ahl-e-hakam ke sar oopar
Jab bijli kar kar karkegi
Jab arz-e-Khuda ke kaabe se
Sab but uthwae jaenge
Hum ahl-e-safa mardood-e-harm
Masnad pe bethae jaenge
Sab taaj uchale jaenge
Sab takht girae jaenge
Bas naam rahega Allah ka
Jo ghayab bhi hai hazir bhi
Jo manzar bhi hai nazir bhi
Utthega an-al-haq ka nara
Jo mai bhi hoon tum bhi ho
Aur raaj karegi Khalq-e-Khuda
Jo mai bhi hoon aur tum bhi ho
My Translation
We shall Witness
It is certain that we too, shall witness
the day that has been promised
of which has been written on the slate of eternity
When the enormous mountains of tyranny
blow away like cotton.
Under our feet- the feet of the oppressed-
when the earth will pulsate deafeningly
and on the heads of our rulers
when lightning will strike.
From the abode of God
When icons of falsehood will be taken out,
When we- the faithful- who have been barred out of sacred places
will be seated on high cushions
When the crowns will be tossed,
When the thrones will be brought down.
Only The name will survive
Who cannot be seen but is also present
Who is the spectacle and the beholder, both
I am the Truth- the cry will rise,
Which is I, as well as you
And then God’s creation will rule
Which is I, as well as you
January 8, 2008 at 7:48 pm
wonderful, wonderful. who is this author?
January 8, 2008 at 8:12 pm
Well done. Great translation.
haha…
And welcome to blogging from a lazy blogger
seriously, thats the worst thing that can happen to you here. Laziness.
enjoy, and good luck.
January 8, 2008 at 8:31 pm
Beautiful, I look forward to reading more. Good luck!
April 10, 2008 at 9:07 am
Thanks! for such a warm welcome and sorry for such a tardy response
April 15, 2008 at 3:52 pm
[...] Transliteration and translation [...]
June 9, 2008 at 11:30 pm
Hello Ghazala,
Loved your translation. I hope you don’t mind if I use it for an article I’m doing. It’s the best I’ve found so far.
Stay well, and I hope to see more translations of Faiz.
Best,
Dileep
June 11, 2008 at 2:53 pm
Thanks! Dileep. Please go ahead and use it just credit me for the translation and i’d like to read your article if possible…
June 28, 2008 at 6:01 am
hi thanks for the invite .. to your blog.. I am neither a poet nor have read much poetry in my life ..but love to read poems that friends write on day to day life.. as all great poets really did that anyway..before they became great.. and mostly they became great after they left this world which is the way the world works.. most wonderful things and people are recognised much after they have gone.. humanity only learns in hindsight..it was a pleasure going through some of thepoems on your blog..please keep me posted..regards ash
June 28, 2008 at 6:07 am
Thanks! Ashraf, for visiting… please come again.
August 20, 2008 at 4:07 am
Salaamz…
This poem came as a ray of light in my life that has lost all hope…
Allah Hafiz…!!!
August 20, 2008 at 9:55 am
So shines the humanist poetry of Faiz.
J. Keep it up, friend!
Khuda Haafiz!
October 13, 2008 at 10:22 pm
Beautiful translation!
I was never into poetry but your blog has given given a new insight!! Your selection of poems is incredible. I am a regular visitor now and really look forward to reading new postings on your blog. Keep writing!!
October 19, 2008 at 2:36 pm
congratulations Ghazala! it was a great feeling to see ur incredible work! somehow i had come across both the original version and its translation but never knew that its u behind this bridge…..plz carry on! gudluck!
October 20, 2008 at 9:56 am
ritu, seema… i’m honoured. I do it only because it really is such a soul-tonic!
thanks so much.
December 11, 2008 at 7:40 pm
Hi Ghazala:
Great translation.
and this is one of my fav Faiz poems..
‘Ghazal’ is my blog name too
after ‘Yeh haath salamat hai jab tak,’..and ‘Sab aatl hoke, tere muqaabil’
I’m sure you’ve heard Nayyara Noor and Farida Khanum sahiba’s great renditions of the same.
Also, may I add a link to your blog..
Thanks and Peace,
L
December 14, 2008 at 8:55 pm
Hi! Lehar,
thanks! Please do link up my blog
Peace…
December 25, 2008 at 1:06 pm
I’ll appreciate if you can provide a Urdu text of this poem, i have searched it on Google but no success…great work anyways
March 31, 2009 at 5:19 pm
hey well done. I love to read & listen this ghazal; both Faiz Ahmed Faiz & Iqbal Bano are legends.
April 22, 2009 at 6:18 am
[...] a lengthy tribute at Pakistaniat. The (romanized) text, with inevitably unjust translation, are here. I don’t have any particular belief in an afterlife, but I’d like to think of Bano [...]
April 23, 2009 at 3:30 am
Nivedita Menon said
on April 22, 2009 at 4:18 PM
http://kafila.org/2009/04/22/iqbal-bano-1935-2009/#comment-5638
[...] looked for translations of Hum Dekhenge on the web, for those who do not understand Urdu, and found two by Ghazala and Maniza Naqvi, on whose translations I based my version [...]
April 23, 2009 at 8:46 am
Very nice translation Ghazala. I hope you won’t mind if I use it for a post on my blog page on RediffIland about Iqbal Bano.
April 23, 2009 at 7:52 pm
Not at all, Nadira. Please go ahead… and thanks!
April 23, 2009 at 10:08 am
hey ghazala…a frnd introduced me 2 ur blog n now i m jus hooked! was never much into poetry n especially not urdu, but ur selections of poems and their translations have just opened up a whole new world for me….also love ur descriptions of places…puts me rite ther in tht place visualise n experience it….
went thru ur blog at a time wen i was losing hope abt a lotta things, n m happy 2 find solace in these words n kno ther r more ppl hum bhi dekhenge woh din…
in solidarity..
smita.
April 23, 2009 at 7:57 pm
Smita… just so humbled by your comment… thanks… i’m glad that you feel this way… blogging has been completely therapeutic for me as well. do continue to visit and feel free to leave your reflections in the comment box. you (readers like you) are my shining light.
February 9, 2011 at 11:24 am
thats good, ghazala u r doing a gr8 job. keep it up. all the success
April 25, 2009 at 3:07 pm
i luv this poetry so meaningful
i luv da translation
May 16, 2009 at 4:17 pm
[...] English translation from http://ghazala.wordpress.com/2008/01/08/hum-dekhenge/ [...]
September 28, 2009 at 3:36 pm
I had been looking for a translation of ‘AnalhaQ’ and found this site.
I will visit again for more of Faiz poetry.
Thanks!
September 29, 2009 at 5:03 am
welcome chhaya… will try to delve more on Faiz
October 4, 2009 at 7:13 pm
hello dere, really beautiful translation.
I have used your translation on my blog http://my.opera.com/Changing_woman/blog/2009/04/24/iqbal-bano as I couldn’t find any better translation..however I have mentioned your blog and gave links to your original work…do you mind?
October 4, 2009 at 7:36 pm
Thanks, Ayesha… mind? not at all!
please visit again.
November 10, 2009 at 4:30 pm
this is beautiful…..this ghazal has always touched me but this is the first time someone has helped me understand it fully…thanks
November 12, 2009 at 7:39 am
thanks pallavi, you might be interested in another post on the blog http://ghazala.wordpress.com/2008/07/16/sounds-of-resistance-and-freedom/
April 12, 2010 at 8:32 am
brother the translation of “Bas naam rahega Allah ka” should be “Only The name of ALLAH will survive”
June 17, 2010 at 5:01 pm
very impressive,,,,
July 15, 2010 at 7:53 am
Achha lagaa.
July 24, 2010 at 1:25 pm
Ghazala This man is such a dynamo to read even today. I wonder why dont we have walls full of graffiti of what he wrote. It surely will make us so much more alive!
August 22, 2010 at 6:32 pm
this poem is so powerful, and your translation makes it even prettier! good job keep up the good work
August 23, 2010 at 4:51 pm
Thanks… i really enjoyed it!!
January 8, 2011 at 8:33 am
January 8, 2011 at 9:17 am
wonderful recording! ejaz mazhar… just amazing! it gave me goosebumps to listen to it. Thankyou so much!
January 28, 2011 at 12:17 am
Thinking of the street protests in the Middle East brought this inspiring poem to my mind. Thanks for the translation. Have posted on Facebook.
February 9, 2011 at 11:18 am
salam to all, the poetry of faiz is truely amazing. everytime i read it it invokes a new passion in me, and i start to work again, for my nation my country.
February 10, 2011 at 5:53 pm
Hi Ghazala,
i am speechless!!!! I can curse myself of not being noticing this magnum opus earlier. What a magnificent work Ghazala and I need your approval if you kindly allow me so i can use it on social media.
Regards,
Saad
March 24, 2011 at 5:58 pm
Hi! Saad do use it… i’d appreciate if you acknowledge me and linkup.
March 3, 2011 at 10:03 am
Hi Ghazala,
Nice work indeed. There should be ‘lightening thunder shall roar” as it shall be more appropriate.
There is a need to promote works of the liberal and progressive people like Faiz. You have taken first step, it is good.
Take care.
March 11, 2011 at 12:55 pm
great masterpeice by sir faiz ahmed faiz!!!hats off
March 31, 2011 at 2:21 am
When I hear
“When the crowns will be tossed,
When the thrones will be brought down.”
When the singing stops,
When the crowds sing
‘Inquilab Zindabad’
When a tear flows down my cheek
When the promised day flashes
in front of my eyes
for an intense moment.
When I am told
that I, too, am true.
Then I realize
I am one with Khuda.
He who is the spectacle
and the beholder!
April 25, 2011 at 8:41 am
Hi Ghazala, i just had a discussion with my friend over this poetry. I think you can give us the answer. the stanza:
Jab arz-e-Khuda ke kaabe se
Sab but uthwae jaenge
Hum ahl-e-safa mardood-e-harm
Masnad pe bethae jaenge
Sab taaj uchale jaenge
Sab takht girae jaenge
isn’t it anti-hindu and anti-indian (surely, it’s not clearly specified in words but i think it’s implied)? Also, i have heard that the pakistani army uses this poetry as a motivational song for the soldiers.
Please answer it truthfully, I assure that you need not to worry about my nationality and religion. Thanks.
April 29, 2011 at 7:44 pm
Hi! Sanjeev… No… The poem is not directed at either India nor Hindu religion or people. Faiz was actually talking of tyrannical rulers of Pakistan and used this metaphor as one that his people in could instantly follow. That the very Army that the poem lambasted (During Gen Ziaul Haq Regime) feels the need to co-opt this poem speaks volumes of its power. A parallel can be seen in the attempts to co-opt Gautam Budhha as a Hindu God- Avatar by the very Brahminical structure whose domination and oppression he opposed. Please see my post at
http://ghazala.wordpress.com/2008/07/16/sounds-of-resistance-and-freedom/
for a partial answer to your question but I think I need to address this question in a separate post more directly. Will soon write it…keep in touch with my blog for more…
May 6, 2011 at 3:49 pm
Thanks Ghazala, looking forward to read your post on that.
June 11, 2011 at 3:21 pm
Hi Ghazala, i am eagerly waiting for the post that you promised.
June 8, 2011 at 6:06 am
[...] so I translated Faiz’s poem into English. There are similar translations on-line esp here (by Sister Ghazala, it is great), but when they took the name of Allah out of it, the poem was [...]
June 17, 2011 at 6:56 am
Great Ghazala
Liked your translation. accidentally reached your site while i was reviewing a music album by Tima Sami. The album is a disservice to Faiz’s poetry for you can’t make any head and tail of the words as the music is too overpowering.
August 7, 2011 at 6:32 pm
Very Motivating !!!
August 7, 2011 at 6:35 pm
Very Motivating !!!
November 23, 2011 at 11:39 am
very very nice it touches my heart………………
November 25, 2011 at 2:33 pm
[...] courtesy - http://ghazala.wordpress.com/2008/01/08/hum-dekhenge/ Rate this: Share this:EmailDiggFacebookTwitterStumbleUponPrintLike this:LikeBe the first to like [...]
November 25, 2011 at 2:37 pm
Have mentioned u in my blogpost and copied the translation. Please let me know if you have any objections
http://almostareview.wordpress.com/2011/11/25/hum-dekhengey-faiz-translation/
December 1, 2011 at 4:22 am
Thanks for mentioning and linking me on your blog. No problem at all.
February 28, 2012 at 5:48 am
Why don’t you try changing font colour? I almost lost my vision
Great translation!!
March 23, 2012 at 7:59 pm
Done!
) Thanks!!
January 4, 2012 at 10:26 am
Any idea which year Faiz wrote this nazm ?
January 25, 2012 at 3:08 am
[...] The lyrics in Roman were picked from http://ghazala.wordpress.com/2008/01/08/hum-dekhenge/. [...]
March 28, 2012 at 8:18 pm
ghazala..immaculate translation. im an art student who was given an assignment to respond to faiz ahmed faiz’s poem..uve made me understand this poem on a much deeper level that i didnt know existed. im very thankful. plz updating me with ur new blogs. i like the way u see things…
March 29, 2012 at 4:23 am
Thank you so much fatima.
I’m so glad. I too miss writing on the blog… will do so soon… have been promising myself
)
September 12, 2012 at 4:52 pm
Great poetry and thanks for the translation…
October 21, 2012 at 6:02 am
[...] (Translation source: http://ghazala.wordpress.com/2008/01/08/hum-dekhenge/) [...]