Poetry in Translation

Kasheer

Saleem morukh
Salaam morukh
Habeeb morukh
Heshaam morukh

Ye shahar morukh
Ye ghaam morukh
Kasheer hund
Subh o shaam morukh

Kashmir

They killed Saleem
They killed Salaam
They killed Habeeb
They killed Heshaam

They killed this city
That town they killed —
All of Kashmir’s blood
They spilled

***

By Abdur Rehman Rahi (b. 1926), a Kashmiri poet and critic. He was awarded the Indian Sahitya Akademi Award in 1961. Translated from the original Kashmiri by Rafiq Kathwari.