By: Dr. Maqsood Jafri
One day you will have to leave Kashmir.
I have seen the paradise that is the envy of heaven.
Do not tell me tales of the Garden of Eden.
Come and witness here the grandeur of God’s creation.
Come and see the joyous dance of the morning breeze in celebration.
Every particle here gleams with the brilliance of the sun.
Even the waves of the rivers surge with a fervent run.
I have seen the radiance of the moon’s beauty here.
I have seen the fairies of paradise dwell with care.
Spring itself has learned its charm from Kashmir.
The tulip fields have imbibed your blood to bloom in cheer.
The blood of ancestors has enriched the maple trees.
Who has stained your rivers with blood’s deep seas?
Who has spilled the blood of the young without reason?
Now the cursed hand must be severed in this season.
The serpent of evil must now be crushed.
We saw the beasts beyond the valley of beauty rush.
We will shatter the face of vicious and vile ruler.
With stones, we will break the devil’s head cooler.
Though today I cannot visit my “birthplace”
My “Poonch” is my identity in this world’s vast space.
In my present, see the glimpses of tomorrow.
See the glowing stars in the footprints, I borrow.
Now you will have to leave the dominion of my love.
One day, you will have to leave Kashmir, our paradise on Earth.
