The last Mughul Emperor Bahadur Shah Zafar II (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
This ghazal was written by Bahadur Shah Zafar. He was the last mughal emperor of India. He was a devout Sufi and also an Urdu poet.This ghazal(or poem) was his best.
My heart cannot rest in this destroyed land.
Who can be satisfied in this useless world.
The nightingale does not complain
about the guard or the hunter.
Fate has decided imprisonment
during Spring harvest.
Tell these desires to find
some other home.
There is no room for them
in this dishonored heart.
The nightingale is delighted
sitting on the branch of flowers.
While thorns are strewn
in my heart’s garden.
I wanted a long life
all I got was four days.
Two I spent wishing and two waiting.
My days are over
evening is here.
I shall sleep with
outstretched legs in my tomb.
Referring to himself he says,
How unlucky is Zafar!
For his burial,
He could not even have two yards of
land in his beloved country!
He was exiled to Rangoon(Myanmar where he breathed his last)!
Translated by Ranu
Sabethville 