Song: “CHEEN AUR ARAB HAMARA”
Singer: MUKESH,
Lyrics: SAHIR LUDHIANVI,
Music Director: KHAYYAM
Film: “PHIR SUBAH HOGI – 1958”
This film was based on Fyodor Dostoevsky’s novel: Crime and Punishment.
All the Land is ours but we are Homeless
By Sahir Ludhianwi
China and Arabia are ours
India is ours too
There is no place (for us) to live
But the entire world is ours
Our hovel has been snatched away
And the (city) benches too,
Now wandering the streets
Is this life caravan of ours
Our pockets are empty
Therefore they curse us:
That sentry of ours
And that warden of ours
All the existing buildings,
The rich have divided ownerships
The foothpaths of Bombay
Are now homes of ours
To get sleep, we qalandar
Come to the sea port:
Where every coolie
Is a confidant of ours
Incomplete is our education:
We cannot find work.
Who would know
The depth of the hidden pain of ours?
Feeble is our condition
But our blood is strong.
Of steel is made
Every youth of ours
Together we will adorn
This country in such a way
That the entire world will gape
In astonishment at this country of ours
China and Arabia are ours
India is ours too
There is no place for us to live
But the entire world is ours.
Translated from Hindi/Urdu by B. R. Gowani