Sauda

Sauda was born at Delhi about 1720, according to the book, a soldier by profession, much esteemed in his lifetime and a favourite at Court. He is said to have excelled in all kinds of poetry, chiefly the ghazal, the qasidah and satire; the book glosses the name Sauda as the folly of love.

The 3 pieces given here are drawn from Hindustani Lyrics (London: The Sufi Publishing Society, 1919), in the English verse of Inayat Khan and Jessie Duncan Westbrook. They are free renderings, not literal translations, and the original Urdu poems are untitled; each is named here by its first line.