Lost in translation

I found myself feeling frustrated as I was reading the Ghazals. The elements that characterize them were completely lost in translation. The repetitive radif and rhyming of the kaafiya add so much personality to the poems. The words being repeated stress the subject of the Ghazal while the kaafiya adds to the flow of the poem.  I was disappointed that the translations did not carry these elements over into English at all. The musicality of the Ghazals was missing, which took away from the emotion and personal connection I felt as a reader. Although I could not understand the original language that they were written in, the Ghazals written in their original language looked so much more beautiful than their English translations. I could clearly identify the structure of the Ghazal and appreciate the artistic talent it took to create a poem of this kind. ​I also found the extensive symbolism, especially in Faiz’s work, to be frustrating. To pick apart the symbolism and understand the Ghazal’s true meaning and historical significance was tedious. I understand that this is an extremely personal opinion because there are some people that appreciate symbolism as a sign of genius. Being more interested in the historical aspect of the poetry, I was searching more for the traces of historical influence on the individual Ghazals as opposed to their artistic qualities. The symbolism hid the obvious subject of each Ghazal, which very well may have been the goal of the writer.

I wanted to hear one of the ghazals being performed so I searched youtube. I really liked this video that I found because of the man's voice. Even though I don't understand what he is singing, his voice echos the mood of the ghazals that we read. He sounds like he is in love, but also sad about something...