Rifat Abbas--Pakistan

Rifat Abbas is a popular poet among Siraiki speakers due to his innovative ideas and his creative use of poetic form. known as the Kafi. The Kafi, written in the form of a sonnet or ghazel, was first introduced by the great Siraiki Sufi poet, Khwaja Ghulam Farid (1841-1901) and is a beautiful poetic form that embodies romance along with spirituality.

In 2005 Abbas was given the Khawaja Ghulam Farid Award for Siraiki poetry for his collection Ishq Allah Saeen Jagiya.
The Siraiki language (also written as Seraiki and Saraiki) is spoken by over 40 million people in central Pakistan.   It is a language rich in oral tradition, but rather less of it has been historically committed to writing.

Sources: Saraiki Literature: Academic dictionaries and encyclopedias: http://en.academic.ru/dic.nsf/enwiki/1348449.
Poetry Translation Centre: http://www.poetrytranslation.org/poets/Rifat_Abbas.

Kafi*

In the bowl of this world

Look at the rose of our passion, my friend
Even if we don't eat together

Even if we don't sit together

We can at least dream together, my friend
Even if we don't drink together

Even if we are strangers

Let us consider the color of our wine, my friend
The sun is setting on the lanes

The river is almost at my door

Let us examine our restless hearts, my friend

The literal translation of this poem was made by Nukhbah Langah
The final translated version of the poem is by The Poetry Translation Workshop