Translator's Note

In this translation words, syntax and architecture betray infidelity. I have given a different linguistic air to the original; covered the subject-matter of the original with a new robe; freed the imprisoned Kashmiri through compression, interpolation and omission; and strengthened the interrelation between the two languages. In the process there was much loss but the life, meaning and soul of the original continue to throb and flow and vibrate. Transmogrification became imperative for the afterlife of the original. Therefore, I am either a shoeblack or a traitor true to the Italian saying "traduttori traditori" ("Translators are traitors").