Ik Mis Sīmīñ Badan se kar Liyā Landan Meñ Aqd

Here is the first paragraph in lieu of an abstract: Our collaboration on this translation grew out of our meeting in 2016, when Ahmad Aqeel Sarwar came to York for the MA in Global Literature and Culture which Claire Chambers was then convening. What began as an academic encounter soon became an intellectually transformative exchange for us both. It prompted Aqeel to change several of his previously-held assumptions and inspired Claire’s decision to embark on the serious study of Urdu. Equally productive is the way our reading of this essay is framed by our different biographies, training, and worldviews. We hope that this shared but not identical perspective brings something apt to Abul Kalam Azad’s “Ik Mis Sīmīñ Badan se kar Liyā Landan Meñ Aqd,” translated here as “Marrying a Fair-Skinned Miss in London,” a piece whose concerns with intimacy, cultural crossing, and the pressures exerted on marriage emerge vividly through dialogue and disagreement. Perhaps it should be pointed out that unlike the men in Azad’s essay, we were both already happily married when Aqeel moved to England!