Salutation to Our Century (1915)
by Abdulla Shaig (1881-1959)

I don't know whether we should welcome,
Or show disdain and hatred to this bloody century.
The horrors and rages of this terrible century
Made the great nations live in fear.
Pull up the thick, heavy curtains, let it be clear
What days-bright or, again, dark-are lying ahead.
Won't love ever secretly be born in the world
Among those blazing fires?
Is there any hope that happiness will triumph again?
Or will the whirlwind of the world's suffering continue?
Will these waves and gales allow
Our ship to arrive at the port safely?
Look, there are dark clouds in the sky,
The seas in the East swell up, rise and rage,
I don't know whether these dangerous storms
Will bring us to happiness or oblivion.

Translated by Aytan Aliyeva and Aynura Huseinova


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