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Writer's pictureFolkloristan

Sarfaroshi Ki Tamanna: The Poetry of Resistance



Sarfarishi ki tamanna ab hamare dil mein hay, dekhna ki zor kitna baazu-e

At the heart of the struggle for freedom against British colonialism, a fiery spirit was ignited by the words "Sarfaroshi Ki Tamanna" in what is now Pakistan, India and Bangladesh.


A fine translation by Urduwallahs articulates it beautifully in English:


The desire for revolution is in our hearts

Let us see what strength there is in the arms of our executioner

Why do you remain silent thus?

Whoever I see, is gathered quiet so…

O martyr of country, of nation, I submit myself to thee

For yet even the enemy speaks of thy courage

The desire for struggle is in our hearts…

When the time comes, we shall show thee, O heaven

For why should we tell thee now, what lurks in our hearts?

We have been dragged to service, by the hope of blood, of vengeance

Yea, by our love for nation divine, we go to the streets of the enemy

The desire for struggle is in our hearts…

Armed does the enemy sit, ready to open fire

Ready too are we, our bosoms thrust out to him

With blood we shall play Holi, if our nation need us

The desire for struggle is in our hearts…

No sword can sever hands that have the heat of battle within,

No threat can bow heads that have risen so…

Yea, for in our insides has risen a flame,

and the desire for struggle is in our hearts…

Set we out from our homes, our heads shrouded with cloth,

Taking our lives in our hands, do we march so…

In our assembly of death, life is now but a guest

The desire for struggle is in our hearts…

Stands the enemy in the gallows thus, asking,

Does anyone wish to bear testimony?…

With a host of storms in our heart, and with revolution in our breath,

We shall knock the enemy cold, and no one shall stop us…

What is that body that does not have hot blood in it,

How can a person conquer a Typhoon while sitting in a boat near the shore.

The desire for struggle is in our hearts,

We shall now see what strength there is in the boughs of the enemy.


Long credited to Ram Prasad Bismil, it's Bismil Azimabadi who penned this anthem of courage, published in "Hikayat-e-Hasti." It is said that when Ram Prasad Bismil was put on the gallows, the opening lines of this poem were on his lips.


Eleven couplets long, the poem made its debut in the pages of the Delhi-based journal “Sabah" painting a vivid narrative of courage and sacrifice. It transcended its poetic origins to become a potent battle cry during the Indian freedom movement. Besides Bismil, other notable activists, including Ashfaqullah Khan, Bhagat Singh, and Chandrashekhar Azad, adopted these words as a rallying point for resistance.

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