Friday, November 16, 2012

When faced with a cannon …

The trenchant quality of the work of Akbar Allahabadi and his relevance in any time, this time, of struggle against the powers that be gets only more palpable to me:
"Kheencho na kamaano ko na talvaar nikaalo
Jab top muqabil ho to akhbaar nikaaalo."
—Akbar Allahabadi (16 Nov 1846 - 1921)

Draw not any bows, nor take out your swords
When faced with a cannon, take out newspapers
—Akbar Allahabadi (16 Nov 1846 - 1921)
Kudos to http://www.facebook.com/indianislamic for bringing this sheyr--couplet--back to me

Translation my own.

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