Freedom - Ghulam Ahmad Mahjoor

Let us all offer thanksgiving,

For Freedom has come to us;

It's after ages that she has beamed

Her radiance on us.

In western climes Freedom comes

With a shower of light and grace,

But dry, sterile thunder is all

She has for our own soil.

Poverty and starvation,

Lawlessness and repression,—

It’s with these happy blessings

That she has come to us.

Freedom, being of heavenly birth,

Can't move from door to door;

You’ll find her camping in the homes

Of a chosen few alone.

She says she will not tolerate

Any wealth in private hands;

That's why they are wringing capital

Out of the hands of every one.

There’s mourning in every house,

But in sequestered bowers

Our rulers, like bridegrooms,

Are in dalliance with Freedom.

Nabir Sheikh knows what Freedom means,

For they took away his wife;

He raised a hue and cry, until

She bore a child elsewhere.

They searched her armpits seven times

To see if she was hiding rice;

In a basket covered with a shawl

The peasant’s wife brought Freedom home.

There’s restlessness in every heart,

But no one dare speak out—

Afraid that with their free expression

Freedom may be annoyed.

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Ghulam Ahmad Mahjoor ( 1887 - 1952) India

Translated by Trilokinath Raina

Source: An Anthology Of Modern Kashmiri Verse (1930-1960), by Trilokinath Raina, Collection at Kashmir Research Institute, Srinagar, 1972 [CC0 1.0 Universal]

Nabir Sheikh - used as a generic name for those who sufferred from hiding rice; officials would check that rice is not smuggled into Srinagar