IT is a fact that even army service can be helpful in one’s intellectual pursuits provided that one is intelligent enough to take advantage of any such opportunity that becomes available in the course of official duty. Retired Colonel Masud Akhtar Sheikh had initially qualified as a first class interpreter in the Turkish language.

Later he was sent to do the Turkish Staff College in Istanbul where he developed an interest in Turkish literature. So he translated a large number of Turkish short stories and poems into English, Urdu and Punjabi. That may be seen as his training period as a translator.

Now we are introduced to him as a translator of the works of distinguished Turkish poet Nazim Hikmet. Here is before me a volume containing Nazim’s 101 poems that have been translated by Sheikh into English.

Sheikh talks of his contacts with Faiz Sahib during his last years and ‘his intense desire to translate Nazim Hikmet into Urdu.’ Faiz had to acquaint himself with the original text of the poems he intended to translate, but unfortunately he did not live long enough to do what he had dreamt.

So Colonel Sheikh took it upon himself to do this job. If he has translated Nazim into English instead of Urdu there is a reason for it. ‘I tried’ he says, ‘to translate a few of his poems into Urdu but soon realised that I had overestimated my capabilities in the field of Urdu poetry.’

He then tried translating in English hoping that ‘some adequately gifted Pakistani poets may convert some (and why not all) of these poems into Urdu verse.’

So we have here Nazim Hikmet’s poems in English translation classified by the translator under headings such as ‘A Citizen of the World’, ‘A Sincere Patriot’, ‘Love for Mankind’, ‘A Passionate Lover’, ‘Love of Nature’, ‘Death’, ‘A Reality’ and so many more.

Because of our linguistic limitations we are not in a position to judge as to how far Masud Sheikh has been faithful to the text and how far he has succeeded in capturing the nuances in Nazim’s poetry and then their transfer in the English version.

However, the flow of lines and facility of expression seem to suggest that the translator has succeeded in capturing the magic of these poems to a great extent.

I quote a few lines which appear to possess some flavour of Nazim Hikmet’s poetry:

Inside me there is a treeits sapling I had brought from the sun its leaves quiver like sardines the fruits chirp like flock of birds Inside me time stands still like a red rose with  musky aroma But it is Friday today, and Saturday tomorrow Already the more of me has gone And less of me is left behind But what do I Care?

Masood Sheikh has something more to offer in addition to Nazim Hikmet’s poetry. He has produced one more volume titled Were You Once an Ocean which introduces us to a Turkish woman poet known as Hasib-i-Sahoglu.

Hasib-i-Sahoglu is associated with her country’s foreign service and has served in Pakistan as the ambassador of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus. It was during her assignment as a diplomat in Baku, Azerbaijan, that she had an urge to write poetry. During her five-year stay in Baku she wrote abundantly and published her first collection of poems.

Masood Sheikh is aware of the fact that ‘the translation of poetry from one language to another is almost impossible because all the sentiments and nuances expressed by the original author are hard to convert into another language.’ But due to his deep involvement with Turkish poetry he cannot resist the temptation to translate it into English for his fellow countrymen.

Masood Sheikh tells us that Hasib-i-Sahoglu’s poetry is a very faithful mirror that truly reflects the various stages of life she has passed so far. At first she wrote poems in which she imagined herself to be a romantic heroine. Later poems appear to reflect upon her married life. While one poem in which she speaks of her involvement as a mother she says:

I am going through the empty rooms chased by my shadow My ears want to hear the twittering of the kids

In a number of poems she reminds us of the Birhan of Hindi geets who is yearning for the return of her life partner:

If I keep my heart  open for you And tell you to come In every season when obanders bloom, will you come?