There are some difficult tasks, in order to simplify which, one has to undergo many a hardship. Mr. Saraf has undertaken such a challenge.

Apart from its rhetorical beauty and the message it contains, Urdu poetry is also known for its rich tone and tenor. This is especially true for classical poets of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.

Not that it was less difficult to understand them in Urdu itself, Mr. Saraf has undertaken to explain them in English.

But such are people who alleviate hardships – like Sanjiv Saraf!

Apart from meaning and style, even for pronunciation, Mr. Saraf has worked hard to create certain devices which are a major asset for this book.

There are many major languages in India in which ‘Ghalib’, ‘Meer’, ‘Zauq’ and ‘Zafar’ are mentioned but people are unable to read their work. Presently, there is no other link-language available apart from English. The biggest benefit of this book would be to readers of other languages, especially students who seek to understand and appreciate classical Urdu poetry and ‘Rekhta’.

In the words of Mohammad Alvi:

ab na 'ġhālib' se shikāyat hai na shikva 'mīr' kā
ban gayā maiñ bhī nishāna rekhta ke tiir kā

Since time immemorial translations have served as a beautiful bridge between different languages. Translating poetry is considered to be more difficult than translating prose because in poetry often the magic is either between or beyond the words. A simple translation of words is possible but to bring expressions or feelings within the ambit of translation is an arduous task. To make expressions and feelings a part of the translation can only be achieved by a translator who has equal command over both languages.

I am in favour of placing the author of this book, SanjIv Saraf, among those translators who have mastered both languages, that is, Urdu and English at the same time. Perhaps it is because of this mastery that several translations included in this book actually read like originals.

SanjIv Saraf is both a devotee and a supporter of Urdu. His love for Urdu borders on a passion. His renowned site, Rekhta, is of immense benefit to many, many people the world over.

I am convinced that his translation of the masters of Urdu poetry will bring benefits to a wide audience, just as Rekhta has. I congratulate SanjIv Saraf on the publication of 'Voices from Beyond'.

When poetry drives you, it enters yours blood stream and makes you do many things. Impossible things. Strange things. Things that your own ilk is shocked to see. It breaks manmade barriers that distances man from man. It makes one sensitive to life and human beings and all that touches them. It is this that drives Sanjiv Saraf and what he would like the world around him to be. He wants this poetry to drive people. This was the genesis of Rekhta and it is this that has made him translate the poetry that has touched him. NAVA E SAROSH. He chooses 10 classics poets and picks poems that have moved him. He then goes further. He adds more of his poetic self to share them with those who have been mesmerized with the sound of Urdu, having only partially understood the nuances. He stands on the other side of the river bank with a boat that they will sail in to reach the meaning of the poem. The boat is crafted in a vocabulary of a language that we have grown up in, almost like a mother tongue. A language which in its own time had decimated this tender language of poetry. It is called English. He seeks music in English. Explores forms and metaphors that can come as close to Urdu. Imagery that is oriental in its essence. All this makes the boat that will take you to the other shore. The shore of understanding. Once you have crossed with its help you read the original verse as someone arrived, enriched, touched, felt.

Sanjiv has used intelligence and restraint by not becoming an Urdu poet himself. He is charged with the passion to share the rich legacy of Urdu poetry and take it deep down instead, penetrating the truth of both heart and history.

chashm-e-qātil mirī dushman thī hamesha lekin
jaisī ab ho ga.ī qātil kabhī aisī to na thī

although the assassin's glance / always was my foe
as lethal as it's now become / it never was before A couplet of Bahadur Shah Zafar translated by Sanjiv Saraf

Sanjiv Saraf, who through his Rekhta project has done so much for Urdu literature, now brings us something on a much more personal scale: a set of his own favorite verses from the major Delhi poets, in his own English transcreations. True to the Rekhta tradition, he also provides the Urdu texts, transliterations, and glossary annotations. The result is a real labor of love, and will surely find a wide and appreciative readership.

With Rekhta, Sanjiv Saraf has already claimed his lawful, canonical place in the history of Urdu. With Nava e Sarosh, he is marking his territory in the hearts of English speaking poetry lovers all over the world. He backs his splendid choice of classical Urdu poets with a discerning, perfectly worded, uniquely imagined, entirely novel rhyming trans-creation of their most dearly beloved ghazals. Sanjiv’s words throb with a profound, ecstatic joy in the musicality of the poets he is celebrating and cannot fail to leave their imprint upon the souls of his readers for generations to come.