Bahadur Shah's last poem in exile in Rangoon..extract from "The Last Mughal"

The poem written by the last Mughal ruler Bahadur Shah Zafar ..translated by Ahmed Ali...of Delhi as he was imprisoned by the British ...an extract from William Darymple's  "The Last Mughal"

'When in silks you came and dazzled
Me with the beauty of your spring,
You brought a flower to bloom
Love within my being.
You lived with me, breath of my breath,
Being in my being, nor left my side;   
But now the wheel of time has turned
And you are gone - no joys abide.  
You pressed your lips upon my lips,
Your heart upon my beating heart, 
And I have no wish to fall in love again,
For they who sold love's remedy
Have shut shop, and I seek in vain.   
My life now gives no ray of light,   
I bring no solace to heart or eye;   
Out of dust to dust again,   
Of no use to anyone am I.   

Delhi was once a paradise,   
Where love held sway and reigned;   
But its charms lie ravished now   
And only ruins remain.   
No tears were shed when shroudless they
Were laid in common grave;
No prayers were read for the noble dead,
Unmarked remain their graves.
The heart distressed, the wounded flesh,
The mind ablaze, the rising sigh;   
The drop of blood, the broken heart,
Tears on the lashes of the eye.  
But things cannot remain, O Zafar,  
 Thus for who can tell?   
Through God's great mercy and the Prophet   
All may yet be well.

Heard the most heart rending narration of Delhi's secret and beautiful history by William Darymple...the narration in 7 parts of his book "The Last Mughal"....A lot of history is still to be retold and accepted...after the incalculable damage of British distortion of Indian history...a must see for all Indians...how unified Indians were until 1857.

The Last Mughal - William Dalrymple Part 1