Fame Poem by Aziz Ahmad 'Aziz Moradabadi'

I sing a song in your honour O Fame!
It may be accepted though it be lame.
Very many are the charms of your name;
The great and small alike want you to tame.

You are in some places well-known as Fame;
While in others, you are nicknamed Defame.
This is only a difference of name,
Howsoever you are the one and the same.

Under your effect a nameless *teacher
Became more famous than his old tutor.
He was acclaimed the foremost teacher;
Credit of all this goes to your nature.

A fav’rite of yours, a wool knitter’s **son,
For testing his fortune, went to London.
He began his career as a play-wright;
Because of your grace he came in lime light.

A new world was discovered by that one***
Who braved many dangers of the ocean.
Despair and anguish vanished from his soul,
When you assisted him to reach his goal.

A man**** of great wisdom became that one
Who travelled very far and wide with none.
Like the moon you uplifted him to shine;
He, then, gave the world morals very fine.

You are the artist’s most glorious prize,
And hence, he is very skilful and wise
In taking gems with the help of his brain
Out of the art’s deep and bottomless main.

Who does not know it is certainly true,
Nobody is exempted from your view?
It is so wonderful rather than strange,
The saints and prophets are out of your range.

* Aristotle
** Shakespeare
*** Columbus
**** Sheikh Saadi