An Arab Poet’s Tribute to Urdu: From Wael Al-Mahdi

A logos of ishq, a sacred zamīñ

that reconciles masjid, mandir and dair.

Elia’s Shāyad could never arise,

perhaps jān-e jāñ, perhaps soul of souls –

Nor yet could Ham Dekheñge by Faiz,

where verses fight tyrants who flutter like cotton –

without this nawāsī of Sanskrit who crafted

the treasures of Persia, and welcomed Semitic

with polished tamīz.

In every nūn ghunna the seed of a she’r

that sings of tehzīb, the Jamnī’s raw flow.

And though my watan is Eastern Arabia

where date palms and wellsprings make peace with the desert –

Kāsh that my naināñ could weep forth a ghazal,

or perhaps pen in lahū a poignant nauha –

For then – just perhaps – our mehfil will welcome

the genius of Ghālib or spirit of Khusrau.