Poem:
Kuch ishq kia aur kuch kaam kia.
Hum ne dono mein kuch naam kia.
Sookh gaye hont bachatay huay,
Mene tere naam jo jaam kia.
“Kisi pyaray ka aana tha mehfil mein?”
Puucha sab ne, is tarah ahtemam kia?
Puucha humse “Masjid kahan hai…”?
Hum ne tera charcha sare-aam kia…
Pehlay yaar ko dekhne ko tarasta raha,
Phir yaar k samnay waqt tamam kia.
Samnay aaya, ik dum liya aur ghir gaya.
Nasha hua us mein jo sub-o-shaam kia.
Buland hua samnay jo sukun ka sans lia,
Woh kia janay jisne sirf taam-jhaam kia.
Toot chuka tha badan wazn se us k…
Hum ne phir bhi zara na aaram kia…
Pehlay roya zarra na gaya jism mein,
Phir bhook se aur gehra kaam kia…
Raat bhar jaaga kayi sawal liye,
Sub Namaz mein phir ilhaam kia.
Mene kab ki padhai k mein awal aata,
Khub ki khushamad aur parcha aam kia.
Jis ne liya ho jaiza ab wohi bataye,
Kaun masroof raha, aur kisne kaam kia…
Banwalia taveez pados k moulvi se,
Phir naam ka vird sub kia shaam kia.
Beth kar uski sangat mein hum ne…
Khub phir auron ko badnaam kia.
Us k aagay nahi sajday k darjay,
Chahay koi kaam kia koi naam kia…
Humein kia pari thi k chahtay kuch aur,
Ishq ne sataya, kaam lia, phir naam kia.
Mausam ki kharabi thi is liye phir
Khel ka adhuray mein ikhtitam kia.
Hui lambi qataar mashqoor-e-zoq ki,
Kis wazeefay ne ye dil ghulfaam kia?
Sabne chaha ho daryaft, raaz booti ka
Jis ne zakhm par marhom-o-baam kia…
Diya to buhat zindagi ne magar,
sirf ishq-la-hasil ka hi daam kia.
Ho ibaadat ya ho mushk-e-zaruri…
Hum ne dono mei Ghalib ka naam kia.
Tere sang guzarta jo umr to manta bhi,
Sohani ne ishq se barhkar koi kaam kia…
— Dedicated to Faiz sahib… whose famous poem’s Misra I very shamelessly copied here… “Kuch ishq kia kuch kaam kia“…
Trivia: It’s an attempt to form what we call a Meta-Poem. Each couplet here itself is a combo of both Ishq and Kaam, while each couplet in contrast to the next one is switching between Ishq and Kaam. Ishq and Kaam as metaphors here are also parallelly dancing between what’s mystic as well as something very private and intimate.
Serenades of a dreamer... 