Aziz Isa Elkun
Before ….
Before you feel endless homesickness
Before you feel the life is meaningless
Before your hair becomes all white
Before your grandchildren marry
Before you learn what’s wrong and what’s right
Before your teeth fall out
Before you have an extra leg
Before you travel with an electric chair
Before …
by Nurmemet Yasin (Orkishi)
translated by Aziz Isa Elkun
Where are you our heroic men?
Let us go to the desert,
The brave hunter finds freedom there,
It flows in his spirit and his blood.
The reeds sing a desert song,
Horses neigh on the horizon.
The heroic people who once lived by the sword,
Now lie quiet beneath the earth.
The floating moon becomes a beautiful girl,
Telling a story in the blue* sky,
Oh the reed bed fiercely burns,
And with it the hopes of a whole nation.
Aziz Isa Elkun
Year!
Once more you have passed
I have no desire for a new one
Because you brought with you unbearable oppression for my people
Countless friends have disappeared
The humiliation of the Uyghurs reached its peak
All the lovers of freedom thrown into jail
No tears fall from our nation’s eyes without blood
But the world pretends to be blind …
They sell their humanity for profit
If this is what you offer me as a gift
How can I salute you today, New Year?
Year!
You thief of life since ancient times!
That’s why Lutun(1) answered you without fear
The enemy’s sword could not kill us all
But the Uyghurs were hardened
Became heroes on the battle field
Without being defeated!
