Poem: “Oh, Sister Nations!”
Published: circa 1928
Poet: Mubarka Ahmed Khan, translated from the Urdu by Alverston & Associates.
Keep in mind today those times of adversity yesterday, oh sister;
At that time when you were buried alive [female infanticide]…
Even the walls of the house wept at the bleak prospects of your entrance into this world;
At that time not too long ago when even fraternal blood happened to boil with the preconceived falsehood of shame. Thus, your mother was in such a confounded state, as if she had given birth to a serpent.
Hence, those who nourished you by their blood [in the womb] shed your blood [female infanticide]. The detestation towards your kind [female] was driven further and further, antithetical to nature, by crafty cunningness.
What was your worth or dignity? Think for a while, where was your honor or due respect? That life was worse than death if, by happenstance, you survived. Because being a woman was an extreme and harsh fault of yours alone, all kinds of oppressions were considered lawful. This fault of yours was unforgivable and you suffered the chastisements as if you were some pebble or stone without perception or feeling. Recall that indignity and disgrace, you being obtained as an [enslaved] inheritance by succession.
Meanwhile, that Compassionate One [Prophet Mohammed] intercedes and becomes your Protector. You are also to be considered a human being and your Protector [Prophet Mohammed] fights and wins birthrights for you… Gets you released from all forms of oppression… Sends endless blessings upon the benefactors of girls at least one hundred times a hundred times a day, again and again. Angelic Muhammed Mustafa, The Prophetic Chosen One!
Oh, Sister Nations!
Oh, Sister Nations!
Send endless blessings upon That Benefactor of ours [Mohammed Mustafa, Our Prophetic Chosen One]!
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