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Laxman Bhatia 'Komal'
The Severed Arm of Ulugbeg*
Hands – extended towards a torch-light
Lips – ajar to kiss a rose
Eyes – seeking the ultimate in emptiness.
Beneath a broken Cross
The blood of his amputated arm
Is glued to the earth.
A wailing sea of groans
Whines through the fissures of his clenched fist
The air suffused with sorrow
Awaken the lonesome waste from sleep.
Shrieks the mouth exhales
And a drop of blood cleaves in the gullet.
The inheritors of this amputated arm
Perceive the ugliness of their visage
in a mirror, before revulsion shatters it.
Translated by Tirth Basant
*Note :
Striving for
awakening in Central Asia, Ulugbeg – the ruler of Samarqand –
observed “Knowledge begins, where religion ends”. This
enraged the Mullas of Samarqand, who incited Ulugbeg’s son to
kill his father. They severed his right arm first and then cut
his body in twenty-one pieces. Today the magnificent edifice
of learning in Samarqand is named after him.
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