Far more difficult is translating poetry, especially of the devotional kind, where the worshippers pour their heart out singing 'in full-throated ease', because the passion and the ecstasy of the original is impossible to render into another language with the same force.

With that caveat, Reverence Unto His Feet is a commendable attempt by Sarah Kazmi to translate the collection of Sabih Rahmani's devotional work.

Within its beautifully ornamented hard cover, the book, originally titled Sarkar Ke Qadmon Mein, presents an anthology of poems in praise of the Holy Prophet (peace be upon him), naats, and a few hamds to glorify God, mostly in rhymed verse.

There are also some poems in blank verse, concluding with some more in beautiful three-lined haiku. In the preface Kazmi offers a fascinating discourse on naat poetry and adds an English composition of her own in which she adoringly describes the Prophet's 'blessed visage'.

Poetry of the sacred kind is a genre where poetic frenzy is at its height. In this case, the translator has added her own feelings through complex construction and forceful epithets for added impact.

But simple words percolate into the deepest recesses of the heart, while at the same time soothing the senses. For example, the opening lines of the first naat are a request from a servant to his master, for some arrangement whereby he could present himself before the latter 'Huzoor aisa koi intezam ho jaey/ Salam kar ne ko hazir ghulam ho jaey.'

The simple language conjures the picture of a worshipper in some distant land, longing to present himself before his lord, beseeching him perhaps with quivering lips and tearful eyes for the favour.

Despite her best efforts though, Kazmi is unable to translate the feel of it.

Similarly, in simple language the original title of the book would translate as At the Master's Feet. But Kazmi renders it as Reverence Unto His Feet.

The translator has added a personal touch to such a large extent that her language outstrips the poet's expressions of ardour. Words such as sarkar which should have been translated as master or lord has instead been translated as Holy Potentate.

Meanwhile, words that could be translated, such as deen and dua, have been left as they are. The translator often seems to get carried away by her own ecstatic feelings, what she considers as effective epithets to praise the Prophet.

But this has robbed the text of its cadence. To the casual reader the translation, therefore, appears heavier than the easy flowing original.

Yet one must defer to Sarah Kazmi's sentiments and hope that in the next edition these and other shortcomings will be taken care of.

Reverence Unto His (Peace be upon him) Feet (religion)
By Sabih Rehmani
Translated by Sarah Kazmi
Naat Research Centre, London
ISBN 968891804-0
142pp. £10