“When I die” is a famous poem by Jalaladdin Mohammad Rumi (1207-1273). He was a Sunni Persian scholar and Sufi mystic, originally from the Greater Iran. He wrote mainly in Persian. But occasionally he used Turkish, Arabic, and Greek. Today he is recognized as one of the greatest poets who ever lived. His poems have been widely translated into many languages of the world. The English translation of his Persian lyrics, of the poem “When I die” are quite relevant to the thoughts and life of late Fr. Stan Swamy, S.J. In the following video it is recited by the voice actor Shane Morris
When Jesus was carrying his cross from Pilate’s palace to Calvary, “There followed him a great multitude of the people and women who were mourning and lamenting for him. But turning to them Jesus said, ‘Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me, but weep for yourselves and for your children.’” (Gospel of Luke 23:27-28) Fr. Stan Swamy says something similar to what poet Jalaladdin Rumi and Jesus said. Probably he is telling us: “Do not shed tears because I was imprisoned without a trial, or denied bail several times, or at the early stage I was not given a straw to drink water or I was labelled as a partner of Maoists or I was allowed to die a slow painful death. Rather you weep for yourselves and for your and my country, because from democracy it is heading towards dictatorship; freedom of speech, human rights, non-violence, unity in diversity and other values enshrined in the Constitution have vanished; arrogance, corruption, nepotism, fanaticism, falsehood, unity in uniformity, the multiplication of Draculin laws is glorified; children of untruth and darkness have become powerful tyrants. The rulers and the citizens have forgotten The holy prayer “Asato mā Sadgamaya” of the 8th century great sage Yajnavalkya, in his Brihadaranyaka Upanishad of Yajurveda “From ignorance lead me to truth. >From darkness, lead me to light. >From death lead me to immortality Om peace, peace, peace.” They have also conveniently forgotten or set aside Rabindranath Tagore’s well-known prayer poem: “Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high… Into that heaven of freedom, my Father, let my country awake.” Pray that our country arises once again with one voice for the Freedom Struggle from the neo-colonizers; once again to recite and to live the prayers of Yajnavalkya and Tagore. Pray to the King of kings That our country is saved of anarchy; the dream of Mahatma Gandhiji may rekindle once again every corner. Rise from your slumber to save the country. Be a voice of the voiceless 3 L (last, least, lost). Jai Bhārat. Pratap Naik, sj 07th July 2021