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| Rezauddin Stalin |
Born to Stay Awake
-Rezauddin Stalin
I feel ashamed I cannot stay awake forever-
Only God never sleeps
Yet I am not afraid of losing anything
The effort to awaken is part of what I’ve achieved.
Once, I stayed up waiting for a friend,
Once, by the bed of my ill mother.
In the war of independence, I kept vigil for days-
Haunted by the fear of the invaders
Once, in the search of heartbroken love
No, I do not have any aspiration like Kumbhakarna.
I was not born to be a slave either.
My birth was the inception of sunlight.
And dedicated all I have
At the feet of ever rising God
I long to see it all-
Emerald fields, cloud-crowned peaks,
Dewdrops dimming diamond light,
A river dancing upstream,
The serpent’s echo in the conch.
Destiny cannot frighten me.
I know—life is fleeting,
Gone before we even open our eyes.
Still oh, that fleeting instant-
How amazing it is, the gate of eternity!
I was not born to be dreadful
Nor to live in chains.
And I do not have any desire to die unsung
I was born to stay awake.
Translated by Ashraf
