[It's said that writers and poets are very apt at ascribing the feelings of others to themselves; they are also thought to be experts in attributing their own feelings to others. The present poem (an English translation of the one originally written in Urdu) is an example of the same. I have myself experienced some the feelings expressed in this poem while the rest of the situation has been drawn from the experience of a fellow student (when things between a student and a teacher went wrong and their relationship got soured). I had recited this poem's original version at the Annual Function of the Department of Education, AMU. Aligarh in 2007, and the poem had been instrumental in bringing out a reconciliation between the teacher and the taught! The present English version was accepted for being published in the Annual Magazine of I. G. Hall, A.M.U. The magazine could not go for publication, perhaps, because of the sine die.]
What an absurd thing
What an absurd thing
Through my pen did I say!
Unintentionally, malapropos
On that fateful day!!
From that guilt feeling
I couldn’t yet overcome!
Oh, how much outspoken
Had I become!!
How deeply, I know
My Pen had wounded you!
Only a written apology,
Therefore, will do!!
Deadly ashamed I feel
For I was stern and rude!
My own Pen has plotted
My destruction’s prelude!!
Thinking of my conduct
I had been all the time.
By insulting you, I’ve committed
A non-venial crime
No concern had I
Of the tenderness of our relation.Totally driven I was
With prejudice, tension and anticipation
Each sentence was a spear
Every word a sharp knife!
My words, I believe, have added
Poison to your wholesome life!
I don’t deserve to be forgiven
Yet very earnestly, I do pray!
For Almighty’s sake, do pardon me
My life otherwise will go astray!
May you get in life
Whatever you eagerly wish to!
All your cherished dreams
May, very soon, come true!
May God bless you with
More intellect, beauty and grace!
Forgive me, o God’s beautiful creation
No matter how mean I am, how base!
May these verses bring my way
Forgiveness and mercy
May this apology recede my pain!
May the Merciful give me enough courage
That the abrupt end of a ‘loving relationship’
I may sustain!! -- Jawaid 'Saahir'
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