Shibli Nomani

Nor at present, nor in the past, we have ever denied,
That your sense of justice is trumpeted far and wide.
Whatever has been happening, we also accept
Fell within the limits of law, with justice as your guide.
Even when you ordered firing on the helpless multitude,
You didn't even by a hair-breadth the law of land defied.

Allama Shibli Nomani (Urdu: علّامہ شِبلی نُعمانی‎ – ʿAllāmah Šiblī Noʿmānī; 3 June 1857 – 18 November 1914) was an Islamic scholar from the Indian subcontinent during British Raj. Shibli was a versatile scholar in Arabic, Persian, Turkish and Urdu. He was also a poet. He collected much material on the life of the Prophet of Islam, Muhammad but could write only first two volumes of the planned work the Sirat-un-Nabi. His disciple, Syed Sulaiman Nadvi, made use of this material and added to it and also wrote remaining five volumes of the work, the Sirat-un-Nabi after the death of his mentor

Quotes

Poetry

Oppression

But let's state the fact, you may or may not like,
We are the oppressed folk, you are not the oppressor, right!

• Nor at present, nor in the past, we have ever denied,
  That your sense of justice is trumpeted far and wide.
  Whatever has been happening, we also accept
  Fell within the limits of law, with justice as your guide.
  Even when you ordered firing on the helpless multitude,
  You didn't even by a hair-breadth the law of land defied.
  But this truth too cannot be lightly brushed aside,
  Thay your act unleashed a deluge of death in the twinkling of an eye,
  The handsome youth when they fell before your deadly [[fire],
  Wondered if it was the doom, or the stars shooting from the sky.
  The arch and pulpit of the mosque were left riddled with bullets,
  But the mosque needs perhaps such patterns on its front and sides.
  Fast-fettered did they watch, the convicts and the passers-by,
  And the police took the stand: How can we, the servants, the sovereign's fiat defy?
  But let's state the fact, you may or may not like,
  We are the oppressed folk, you are not the oppressor, right!
  • Masterpieces of Patriotic Urdu Poetry, p. 105

custodians of civilization

• O custodians of civilization, may we ask how long
  Will you perpetrate horror, commit wrong on wrong?
  Conceded that you want to test the sharpness of your swords,
  But how long will you try them on our pliant throats?
  You want to see the assembly with rhetoric hot ablaze,
  How long can our sighs and wails satisfy your craze?
  True that the tales of woe titillate your heart,
  But how long can we relate the tales of grief and loss?
  We know that you grudge the drought caused by the heavens high,
  How long can our tears of blood your withering crops revive>
  You require glimmering stars to brighten up your fate,
  How far can these grains of dust emblazon your face?
  Knowing we are faded leaves of a fallen tree,
  How long will you continue to crush us out complete?
  • Masterpieces of Patriotic Urdu Poetry, p. 101

External links

• K. C. Kanda: Masterpieces of Patriotic Urdu Poetry: Text, Translation, and Transliteration, Sterling Publishers, New Delhi, 2009