An Ode to India

AN ODE TO INDIA

Better than the whole world is this India of ours
We are its nightingales, it is the garden of ours

If we are in foreign lands our hearts think of the homeland
Consider us present where this heart of ours is present

The highest mountain, touching the sky
It is our sentinel, it is our watchman ¹

Thousands of rivers are playing in its lap are playing
Which make this garden of ours to be the world's envy

O, The River Gangaas waters ! Do you remember the day
When our caravan landed at your banks²

Religion does not teach hostility with each other
We are Indians, India is our homeland

Greece, Egypt, Rome are all extinct from the world
But our renown and fame have continued so far

There is some secret that our existence is not effaced
For centuries time's vicissitudes have been our foe

Iqbal! In the world there is no confidante of ours
How would anyone know the hidden pathos of ours ³