POETRY (MOON)

MOON

By: Ghani Khan

Translation: Nasser Yousaf

اے لیونیه ساقي

دلیونو د شراب

O mad barmaid

Of mad wine-lovers

ستاجادوگرا رڼا

د خمارونو دریاب

Your magical light is

Like a euphoric river

نن م په سترګو کښ ستا

سوربے رغم وليده

In your eyes today, I saw

Shadows of deep grief

دارمانونو لړیے

خاموش ماتم وليده

Gathering clouds of longing

A quietly simmering lament

ياده که هيره د ده

ځما خوانی لیونے

Recall, have you forgotten?

My maddening youth

چه تابه سره لمبه کړه

ذما نشه دخوانے

When into a red flame thou'd

Turn my intoxication of youth

ستا پلوشو به رانه

آرام او خوب پټ که

Your blinding rays would

Steal my rest and sleep 

يوبے قراره ارمان

کښ به م حوش روک که

A restless yearning would

Take away my senses

چه راښکاره به شوے ته

لکه مسکئ محبوبه

As thou entered the scene

Like a darling wearing a smile

ځما حر رګ به د که

يو د جنون لمبه

Turning each vein of mine

Into a flash of madness 

بس يو آرمان يو درړ

سوز او خمار به شومه

Ah! a lingering pain, I

Would turn piquantly intoxicated

يابه د داسے مست کړم 

يو سور انګار به شومه

Or you'd make me ecstatic

Like a scarlet fire

حر سُر کښ اور او ژړا 

داسے ستا ربه شومه 

In every rhythm, fire n crying 

Such a sitar would I turn into 

يا به د راوړو اميد

يو سپين ګلذار به شومه

Or you'd herald hope, and 

I'd transform into a white rose

خو نن خفه غوندے ے

زيړه حيرانه شانے

But today you look melancholy

Pale-complexioned and aghast

سترګے د مړاوے مړاوے

او پریشانه شانے 

Eyes dim and weary-looking

Expressing untold sadness 

په ټول جهان د که خود 

مړاوے غمګين ارمان

Enveloping the Universe in

A pall of withered sad longing

لکه بے وسه ماليار 

په تور ماښام ر خزان

Like a helpless gardner

On a dark autumn evening 

نن د رڼا کښ حغه

رنګ او سر ور نشته

In your light today, that

Colour and rhythm is amiss

سترګے د مړاوے مړاوے

خفه روانه وے

Your eyes were dim

As you walked sadly

لکه زما د زړه

ستړے ستومانه وے

Like my heart, you 

Looked so worn out

هغه جادو  د څه شو

هغه شراب څه شو

Whither your charm

Whither your wine

هغه د اور لمبے

او سره ګلاب څه شو

Whither those fiery flames

And those red roses? 

زما رنګينه  ذوانۍ 

خو وخت پہ غلا ېوړه

My colourful youth, Time

Has stolen away from me

خمار حوانے سرہ لاړ 

مستي سودا يوړه

With my youth is gone

All that rapture of yore

ما ځان باچا ګڼلو 

د بل غلام او ختم

I pretended to be a king

But turned out to be a slave

.

مايو‌ درياب ګڼه ځان

دخاورو جام اوختم

I feigned to be a river

But proved to be a mud flask

خو ستا جادو ګره رڼا

د خمارونو درياب 

But your magical light

A river of intoxication

څه شو ستا ډک جمونه

د ليونتوب دشراب

Whither your full pegs

Wine of sheer madness 

بس حيڅ جواب نه کے

کم خواه ته ځے زمانه

You don't reply at all 

Where're you going from me

سترګے مسکے مسکے

 مړاوے خفه حيرانه

coyly smiling eyes

Dim, sad and aghast

A SHORT STORY

ADRIFT
BY: Nasser Yousaf

'Oh, it was a 22-hours long journey,' the pilot blurts out wearily as he brings his private jet to a halt. A white-haired man incessantly talking on his cell alights first followed by a sullen-looking lanky man with two slits for eyes on a little bony face. A car waiting on the tarmac takes them to a middle-class locality in the cosmopolitan city where they are welcomed by a dark cadaver. 'A gunny-bag, the cadaver mumbles before checking himself with a jerk as he sees off the twosome morosely at the end of daylong talks. The return journey ends in two hours.