When Sleep Journeys first appeared in 1981, it took the Urdu poetry world by storm. Now considered one of the finest contemporary Urdu poets, Azra Abbas was among the first to embrace experimental, free verse poetry, a form that took time to gain traction in a field dominated by traditional forms. A single book-length poem, divided into three cantos, Sleep Journeys remains one of Abbas's most complex works, a dreamlike rumination that explores faith, female desire, and the subconscious mind. Her language is simple and austere, the complexity of the work emerging through repetition, interweaving, and juxtaposition. The result is a gossamer thread that leads the reader through a labyrinth of metaphor, imagery, and awe. Award-winning translator Daisy Rockwell has crafted a poetic translation that captures the rhythm and flow of the original. Though comprising a vast web of interwoven prose, each page is self-contained, with the original Urdu facing the English. At the end of the book, a transliteration into Roman script allows readers of Hindi the opportunity to access the original. All told, the book ushers us into the state that lies between sleeping and waking, exploring hidden thoughts and desires; this edition brings one of the most celebrated Urdu poems from the late twentieth century to a broader, worldwide readership.
Azra Abbas was born in 1950 in Kanpur, India, and immigrated to Karachi, Pakistan, as a child. She burst onto the contemporary Urdu poetry scene in 1981 with the publication of her book-length prose poem Sleep Journeys (Nind ki Musaafaten). Writing prose poetry was a daring choice at the time; Abbas took a fresh approach, heralding a new beginning in Urdu poetry. She has written seven collections of poetry, two memoirs, a collection of short stories, and a novel. She lives in Karachi, where she is composing a novel and writing poetry. Daisy Rockwell is an artist, writer, and Hindi-Urdu translator living in Vermont. She has translated numerous classic literary works from Hindi and Urdu into English, including Bhisham Sahni's Tamas and Khadija Mastur's The Women's Courtyard. Her translation of Geetanjali Shree's Tomb of Sand won the International Booker Prize and the Warwick Prize for Women in Translation. She is a past winner of MLA's Aldo and Jeanne Scaglione Prize for Translation of a Literary Work for Krishna Sobti's A Gujarat Here, a Gujarat There. More recently, she was awarded the Vani Foundation Distinguished Translator Award, recognizing the career achievements of translators of Indian languages. Her memoir, Our Friend, Art, is forthcoming in 2027.
Translator's Note First Canto Second Canto Third Canto A Bit About Me: Afterword to the 1981 Edition Sleep Journeys and Me: Afterword to the 1988 Edition nii.nd kii masaafate.n: In Roman Transliteration Acknowledgments
"A work of rapturous imagination. On every page, Abbas took my breath away with her astonishingly vibrant images, which Rockwell re-creates with riveting immediacy in her stunning translation. What a joy to read a translation in which the translator and poet are so well matched in their talent and inventiveness." - Idra Novey, judge, Wisconsin Prize for Poetry in Translation "Sometimes Abbas's poems are weather warnings, sometimes bulletin boards from the bazaar, sometimes whispered admonitions. Some are, indeed, delicate curses, others are shouting matches; some are quiet prayers, others are howls of protest; and some are jokes so elaborate and heartfelt that you smile and clutch your heart at the same time."- Mohammed Hanif "The vulnerabilities and anxieties of relationships are delicately and masterfully explored through a girl's probing and foretelling vision. Abbas's unique voice bridges the poetic and the mundane through a controlled expression."- Musharraf Ali Farooqi
