Advice

Age:

‘This wind, this storm, this furious flow
This thunder and lightning, this frightening show
The night is dark, the ocean heaves
No torch to guide, or star aglow
Traveller, stay where your are, fight not this flow.â€

Youth:

‘For him is the guide, for him the shore
Who fights the flood without awaiting the oar
The pitch-dark night, the heaving ocean
Are but a whimper in comparison to resolve’s roar
How long can you walk clinging to the shore?’

Kaifi Azmi

[Translated from the original Urdu by Pavan K. Varma]