For a few days now, I’ve been unable to remember my name.
It’s been some days since I saw the haze spreading.
Perhaps now, I’ll be scattered in the whirling motion of the dance —
don’t call me away from the house of beauties.
A hundred times, the clouds may weep at my name.
This time, my pain won’t let them in.
A hundred times, the sun and moon may come out to search for me.
This time, my trace will lie within some dream.
Perhaps a voice may even call to me from the heavens.
At that moment, I won’t recall my name.
In the end, that voice will turn back, defeated,
and people will say that I did not die.
I will escape death — but see here, my friend:
don’t call me away from the house of beauties.
Ali Akbar Natiq, born in Okara in 1973, is a prominent contemporary Urdu poet and fiction writer. Once a mason specializing in mosque construction, he later earned degrees from Bahauddin Zakariya University, NUML, and Minhaj University. Since his debut, he has published acclaimed poetry collections, short stories, and novels. Praised highly by critics, including Shamsur Rahman Faruqi, his works – translated into English, Hindi, and German – have established him as a powerful Urdu literary voice of our times.
Zahra Sabri is a Karachi-based academic teaching Indo-Muslim History and Literatures. She holds an MA from Columbia University and has taught at McGill, Aga Khan University, and Karachi University. Her research explores Mughal history, Persianate influences, and Urdu identity politics. Curator of Koozah (OUP, 2015), she has translated poetry from over a dozen languages for almost all seasons of Coke Studio Pakistan and written widely for Pakistan’s press. A former Herald journalist, she won the Zubeida Mustafa Award for Journalistic Excellence in 2013.