Amrita Pritam

31 August 1919 – 31 October 2005 / Gujranwala, Punjab / Pakistan

I Ask Waris Shah Today

I say to Waris Shah today, speak from your grave And add a new page to your book of love
Once one daughter of Punjab wept, and you wrote your long saga; Today thousands weep, calling to you Waris Shah:
Arise, o friend of the afflicted; arise and see the state of Punjab, Corpses strewn on fields, and the Chenaab flowing with much blood.
Someone filled the five rivers with poison, And this same water now irrigates our soil.
Where was lost the flute, where the songs of love sounded? And all Ranjha's brothers forgotten to play the flute.
Blood has rained on the soil, graves are oozing with blood, The princesses of love cry their hearts out in the graveyards.
Today all the Quaido'ns have become the thieves of love and beauty, Where can we find another one like Waris Shah?
Waris Shah! I say to you, speak from your grave And add a new page to your book of love.
170 Total read