Kishwar Naheed
ye ham gunahgar aurten hain
jo ahl-e-jubba ki tamkanat se na roab khaen
na jaan bechen
na sar jhukaen
na haath joden
We sinful women
ye ham gunahgar aurten hain
ki jin ke jismon ki fasl bechen jo log
vo sarfaraz thahren
niyabat-e-imtiyaz thahren
vo davar-e-ahl-e-saz thahren
It is we sinful women
who are not awed by the grandeur of those who wear
gowns
who don’t sell our lives
who don’t bow our heads
who don’t fold our hands together
ye ham gunahgar aurten hain
ki sach ka parcham utha ke niklen
to jhuut se shahrahen ati mile hain
har ek dahliz pe sazaon ki dastanen rakhi mile hain
jo bol sakti thiin vo zabanen kati mile hain
It is we sinful women
while those who sell the harvests of our bodies
become exalted
become distinguished
become the just princes of the material world.
ye ham gunahgar aurten hain
ki ab taaqub men raat bhi aae
to ye ankhen nahin bujhengi
ki ab jo divar gir chuki hai
use uthane ki zid na karna!
It is we sinful women
who come out raising the banner of truth
against barricades of lies on the highways
who find stories of persecution piled on each threshold
who find the tongues which could speak have been
severed.
ye ham gunahgar aurten hain
jo ahl-e-jubba ki tamkanat se na roab khaen
na jaan bechen
na sar jhukaen na haath joden!
It is we sinful women.
Now, even if the night gives chase
these eyes shall not be put out.
For the wall which has been razed
don’t insist now on raising it again.
It is we sinful women
who are not awed by the grandeur of those who wear
gowns
who don’t sell our bodies
who don’t bow our heads
who don’t fold our hands together.
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