Muezzin – مؤذن

o muezzin! a bit softly

here,

near this mosque,

a worker’s starving children

have only just drowsed off

o muezzin! a bit softly

careful

lest a child awakes

and seeing her hearth cold,

the mother’s heart shatters

o muezzin! a bit softly

listen,

the bell of some distant mill

echoes

and from far away

its chimney smoke

beckons me

o muezzin! a bit softly

this hour is sacred to me

this hour that slakes

my hunger

and to light the hearth

I bring a spark

from this chimney

o muezzin! a bit softly

but you,

fed on manna from heaven,

what sense can I make to you –

amidst the roar of my guts

the call to prayer is meaningless

Translated by Nauman Naqvi