A tree said one day to the desert bird,
"On tyranny is founded this sorrow-house of color and scent.
If God had granted me wings and feathers too,
This created world would be even more flourishing.
The desert bird gave him a fitting reply,
"It's outrageous! You have mistaken justice for injustice!
In this world, the pleasure of flight is not the right of one
Whose existence is not free from the pull of the earth."
This poem, structured as a classic dialogue between a rooted tree and a free-flying desert bird, is a philosophical exploration common in Urdu and Persian poetic traditions. It uses these archetypal symbols gthe tree representing stability and the limitations of a fixed existence, and the bird embodying freedom, aspiration, and transcendenceto discuss themes of destiny, the nature of perceived injustice, and the true meaning of liberty. The tree laments its groundedness, viewing it as an impediment, while the bird responds by asserting that true joy and flight belong only to those unbound by earthly attachments, implying that each existence has its own inherent "justice" or nature that should not be mistaken for "tyranny."
wit & rebuke · the world's unfairness (shikwa) · wonder & existence