When I am preoccupied with nothing in particular, rather
with misdeed;
I don’t think much, what I was or what I am going to be in
future, indeed.
Weaving the net of fascination in the blackboard of my
vision,
the fatal desires keep sucking on the young blood with vam-
pire’s precision.
Quite knowingly I am moving, with every step I take,
toward the bottom pit that we must avoid for our own sake.
Right then I wake up at the commanding Azan from far,
God is the greatest! Allahu Akbar! Allahu Akbar!
Whether I understand it or not, yet in my heart
a deep feeling of bewilderment keeps me restless and agitated in part.
This call, so special, makes this heart and mind wander,
A sense of loneliness and alienation keeps swirling as I ponder.
The heart only knows the kind of pain it is, I can’t put it in
word,
Yet a sense of loneliness and alienation that is so mysterious
and demurred.
We have to leave this beautiful world to a destination who
knows how far,
God is the greatest -listen to that call- Allahu Akbar, Allahu
Akbar!
O this bewildering, soul-robbing call, so holy and pure,
mysteriously grabs my devotion, my knee bends unsure ..
In my chest I feel the stream of a wild water-eascade,
during the awakening dawn and when the light at the sunset
begins to fade.
During the blinding light of midday and the comforting east-
erly breeze of the afternoon,
Or during the restful night the
fragrance, O Azan, you emit – with or without moon.
Just in case, we, the needy earthlings, neglect the work of our
Master,
That’s why you keep calling to awaken us five times a day, as
our life moves faster and faster
Whenever I fail to respond to even one such call,
My heart agitates in regret and rushes like a waterfall.
You are there, O Azan, so Islam is still awake and alive,
Despite our wave of negligence, it continues to survive and
revive ..
O pure! O so deep! O so heart-robbing call!
O the Azan, may your trumpet keep us awake, me and all.
Until the trumpet of Israfeel plays the doomsday’s tune,
O Azan, please continue your hearty call in this world of so
much misfortune.
-Translated by Mohammad Omar Farooq
