This poem, originally titled “Bay Dili Kya Yun Hi Din Guzar Jayenge” by Jaun Elia, evokes a deep sense of disillusionment with life and the inevitability of mortality. The translation, "Shall this lifelessness forever persist?", reflects these themes, emphasizing existential despair and the brevity of existence. Translated by Mason Carter.
Translation: "Shall this lifelessness forever persist?"
Shall this lifelessness forever persist?
These days slip by like shadows missed.
Living on, merely a husk of breath—
Shall we survive to only taste death?
Dancing in the fading twilight’s gleam,
Yet all will scatter like a broken dream.
These spirits, forlorn, enslaved by dawn,
Shall toil once more—by day withdrawn.
How fair thou art, how my soul doth ache,
That we, like dust, must death partake.
A mercy, it seems, the secrets untold,
For as we came, so death takes hold.
Translated by:
Mason Carter