Far had I travelled for seven long days,
At night by strange hearths with their welcoming blaze
I heard ancient legends defying time's haze –
Poor were my hosts, unpretentious their ways –
I crossed mighty mountains, that stark alpine maze,
Made copious notes, then, on lifting my gaze,
At last the first glimpse of my homeland I caught –
Country of hope, of our heart and our thought!

Farewell land of poverty dragged from the past!
Farewell Khyber Pass, now I leave you at last!
On you, Himalayas, my last look is cast!
Above I can see in the black-vaulted sky
Vast rivers of diamonds that never shall die.
Another sight Earth has to offer the eye –
Sand – shifting and arid – the sun-stricken clay
Where howling of jackals resounds far away.

Sleepless I waited to see the first light
Flooding the pass from the Vale of Man's Plight.
A far-away gleam in the depths of the night,
The lights of my land with their welcome, once more,
A thousand bright eyes full of laughter, I saw.
Thro' curtains of darkness there gleamed in the night
Challenging luminaries, glorious sight,
The town of Termez, source of shimmering light.

Baisun Mountain bathed in its rays seemed to grow,
While great range Hissar came alive in its glow.
Bright flame of Liberty, Lenin's own flame,
It burns for all nations, that sacred red flame!
It seemed that the lights of my land called my name,
Bidding me hurry to friends, to my wife
My people and country, far dearer than life!

There came into view Amu river's long shore.
The wide, restless sweep of its waters I saw.
In lands of strange shadows I wander no more.
Amu Darya tells me I'm close to my land,
To life and to joy, that the dawn is at hand.

On our river bank there are waiting, I know,
My loved ones, my own – the sweet scent and the glow
Of orchards and gardens, pink vistas of snow,
The joy of the Spring in that dear land of mine,
The lights of my homeland that always shall shine.

1950