Each heart carries on its plam (Har koi dil ki hatheli pe)

Translated poem:

Each heart here carries on its palm a desert bare,
Who to quench, who to abandon in thirst’s hair?

Who in the world sticks to a bond in perpetuity?
Oh frenemy, in the hands of God, I leave your care.

Like I – not even a bit, if someone bears your name.
One must resemble you to even attempt such a dare.

How crazy a heart is to seek such a person’s care,
One who won’t have me for self, nor leave me spare.

No less is here a greed of worship than a thirst for gold,
True hermit is far from belief as from the world’s snare.

Don’t laugh this much at recluse and their lonely state,
Wish I here, may you too have a taste of such despair.

Is this contentment, is it obedience, or a love’s flare?
How’s ‘Faraz’ happy as long as kept, no matter where.

— Dedicated to hermits…

Original poem:

Har koi dil ki hatheli pe hai sahra rakkhe
kis ko sairab kare wo kise pyasa rakkhe

Umr bhar kaun nibhata hai talluq itna
ai meri jaan ke dushman tujhe allah rakkhe

Hum ko achchha nahin lagta koi hamnam tera
koi tujh sa ho to phir nam bhi tujh sa rakkhe

Dil bhi pagal hai ki us shaKHs se wabasta hai
jo kisi aur ka hone de na apna rakkhe

Kam nahin tama-e-ibaadat bhi to hirs-e-zar see
faqr to wo hai ki jo din na duniya rakkhe

Hans na itna bhi faqiron ke akele-pan par
ja KHuda meri tarah tujh ko bhi tanha rakkhe

Ye qanaat hai itaat hai ki chahat hai ‘faraaz’
hum to raazi hain wo jis haal mein jaisa rakkhe

— Ahmed Faraz

Thanks to Miss Sarah Awan for introducing me to this Ghazal from her diary whose entry dated “02-04-2000”:

The Whole

Incorrigible. Over demanding.
Rude. Brutal. Insensitive.
Robotic…
Overthinking over analyzing schmuck.
Overplaying my hand at every round and turn…

This is all I become…
No. This is all I remain…
When you are not here.

Because everyone can talk to me. But not everyone can make me listen…
Sure many can touch me, but not everyone can move a soul beneath.
There are surely many who can hold but not so many who can contain me…
Many can walk along, but not those who can align with me.
Many can give me shelter but not one who can become a sanctuary…
There are many to whom I am visible, but not many who can find me…

It’s you, who can do that.
It’s you – without whom then I feel incomplete…
Because I never was complete.

You made me “whole” with your presence…

— Dedicated to the one who makes you whole…

The Phoenix

I am fallen but not broken…
I am beaten but not succumbed…
I am shaken but not withered…
I am deprived but not frickled…
I am snuffed but not perished…
I am in ashes yet not departed…
Not yet.
I am here, I am still here…
Hear these beats, feel this pulse.
Feel the rhythm in them that yells
inspite being in dust…
And know this no more surer…
I will rise. I will rise.

For you can arrange fall of my body but not the soul with-in.
You can beat me to a pulp, but can’t tear throug my spirit…
You can jolt me to the core, but can’t nudge my belief…
You can deprive me of what I deserve, yet you can’t weaken me of what I find with-in…
You can choke my flame, but you can never extinguish the fire tintillating…
You cannot bury me, sink me, subside me…
I am more than my body, my physique — my color, my race, my creed…
I am more than the place I was born in… more than a society I grew in.
I am more than a piece of paper I was given time and again as an identity…
And more than a label I am put in for leveling…
Know this no more surer…
I am more… I am more…

— Dedicated to a fire-within.

Mere Ishq de Vich (In spirit of my love)

Translation:

Mere Ishq De Vich Mashook Na Ho
Nai Aj Tak Galat Nigah Kitti

Can’t be a claimer in spirit of my love…
Not for once I did let my eyes astray.

Teri Her Mulaqat Main Enj Kitti
Jiwen Musa Naal Khuda Kitti

I met you whenever – I did in such a way,
Like God had handpicked Moses for a play.

Nai Farq Kitta Teri Puja Vich
Nai Khatraan Di Parwah Kitti

Discriminated I not, in a worship or in pray,
Nor I cared even little of any danger in the way…

Ek Tenu Rab Nai Keh Sakda
Baqi Sari Rasm Adaa Kitti…

Apart from referring you as “The Almighty”,
I performed – rituals all, matter not what they may…

– Bulleh Shah

Punjabi Transcript:

میرے عشق دے وچ مشکوک نہ ھو
نہی اج تک غلط نگاہ کیتی
تیری ہر ملاقات میں انج کیتی
جیوے موسی نال خدا کیتی
نہی کیتا فرق تیری پوجا وچ
نہی لو کاں دی پرواہ کیتی
اک تینوں رب نہی کہ سکدا
باقی ساری رسم ادا کیتی
تیرے نال حیاتی لا چھڈی
دس کس نے انج وفا کیتی

بُلّھے شاہ –

The Colors and The Sky

Poem:

I love how beautiful the sky looks
at a time of twilight…

Those purples, and the orange tint,
those lavender, and golden strides…

I have never seen
anything as beautiful as this,
those level of creative combinations
in my entire life.

Each day reveals a yet new mix,
a new background of tint,
to bask the landscapes in…

It’s almost as if
the canvas was prepared by an artist,
that tapestry of colors
hand chosen.
Set in a motion
after days of work
and marination performed over it.

But I am taken back,
when arrives a moment,
at end of the day…
as the shroud of darkness
covers the sky,
and the colors are taken away.

Not so soon as it happens,
I start to miss the dance of hues,
in the heavenly skies…
That tapestry where I saw,
my name written all over it.

But then occurred to me
an epiphany…
Is it the sky that changed its color?
When is it ever
that the sky is changing??

It never did.
It’s never been the sky, from the beginning.
But only the light
I was seeing the sky in…
It was when and where on earth
I was, when I was
while admiring its glory.

Isn’t quite similar is our life and
the clock we measure with aging?
Our perspective is all that it needs perhaps
to make matters sour
or to render them sweet…

Worry not, if all you see
is the darkness
from where you happen to be…
wait for the night to pass,
and for Sunlight to be.

Perhaps move a little,
step out at a different time?
and step into a different light
to see what’s missing…
And while you are at it.
Savor it.
Because know this for sure,
that you would only come across
the same combo
once in a life-time.

— Dedicated to time and light, and all juice we can extract from combination of it.

I’m afraid not (Nahi mila…)

Poem and Translation:

Wajud-e-ishq ka koi sira mila nahin mila
KHudi mili nahin mili KHuda mila nahin mila

Did anyone ever arrive
at inception of existence of love?
I’m afraid not.
Did we find ourselves? Nope.
Or pinned the address of God?
I’m afraid not.

Tamam shahr mein mile gale hazar raat se
magar kahin kisi jagah diya mila nahin mila

In all cities I embraced,
the nights countless…
Did I find solace
or any lantern of hope?
I’m afraid not.

Tumhein hamari ruh ke nishan mile nahin mile
hamein tumhaare jism ka pata mila nahin mila

Did you find the traces
of my soul?
I’m afraid not.
Did I stumble upon
the vessel of your soul?
I’m afraid not.

Ye ahd rad ka ahd tha so rasm mustarad hui
masih-e-waqt dar par khaDa mila nahin mila

That promise was promise of dismissal,
it needed no formality.
Did you find savior of time waiting
for you my dear?
I’m afraid not.

Zamin-e-dasht-e-yaad bhi hawa-e-sang-dil ki hai
koi nishan der tak paDa mila nahin mila

Even on terrain of memories,
the winds are treacherous,
Did one come across any clue
persistent here?
I’m afraid not.

– Atif Tauqeer

Virgin

Poem:

Without you, I am a bird without the wings…
I drank from fifty wells, yet I remain unsatiated.
I flied to a hundred places, yet I remain untraveled.
I am touched by hundreds, yet I remain unaffected.
I witnessed hundreds of miracles, yet I remain unshaken.
I learnt thousands of words, yet I remain among the unlearned.
I uttered thousands of words, but I remain unheard and stifled.
I met thousands of people, yet I remained unseen, hidden.
I watched thousands of stars titillating, yet I remain unstirred.
I get to rest hundreds of nights, but I remain exhausted.
I get planted with thousands of seeds, yet I remain barren.
I feel gusts of springs, the winds from heaven, yet I remain unmoved, unyielding.
I swing among the rainbows, yet I remain colorless, unblemished.
I host dozens of people, yet I remain uninhibited.
I drink thousands of meads, yet I remain sober and not drunken…
I slept with no matter how many, yet I remain a virgin.

I am never 100%… There’s not enough of me…
I am what’s left of me – a word half, sentence unfinished.

— Dedicated to the Beloved.

Ae, Mohabbat, suna hai k tum jawaan hogayi ho… (My love, I have heard you’ve grown up now…)

Art by Pakkhee (Miss Areesha Khuwaja).

Poem:

Ae, Mohabbat… Suna hai
k tum jawaan hogayi ho…
Khud ko kho Janay k darr se
pareshaan hogayi ho…

Ae, Mohabbat… Suna hai
k tum jawaan hogayi ho…

Mehlon ko chhor kar,
aur chhor kar sehan ki chhaoon…
Garam rait mei nikal k
faqt nangay paun…
kuch Kachay pakkay raston se
aashnaan hogayi ho…

Ae, Mohabbat… Suna hai
k tum jawaan hogayi ho…

Deewarein seech di hein tumnay,
apnay sirhane mein…
kai kabzay banadiye hein
aangan k thikanay mein…
phir bhi toofanon ki zar
chaak-giraybaan hogayi ho…

Ae, Mohabbat… Suna hai
k tum jawaan hogayi ho…

Shehr k daireena raaston
Ki surkhiyon ko parh parh k…
Naqsh se haal ko,
haal se mustaqbil ko chun chun k…
phir ajab karishmay dekh
hairaan hogayi ho…

Ae, Mohabbat… Suna hai
k tum jawaan hogayi ho…

Gulistan mein chhabbi
manwali hai tumne,
Kaanto se bhi jaan
chhurali hai tumne…
Phir bhi andhere mei chupke
aksar aah bharti ho…

Ae, Mohabbat… Suna hai
k tum jawaan hogayi ho…

— Dedicated to the beloved.

Art by Pakkhee (Miss Areesha Khuwaja).

Dhadkanon ke rukne ka sabab hoga (There must be cause why heart stopped beating)

Poem:

Dhadkanon ke rukne ka sabab hoga…
Qaid yaar ki gali ka matab hoga…
Kon marta hai sirf sans k rukne se…
Jo uspar na maray to be-sabab hoga…

Hum mit jatay hein, woh puuchta hai
“Najanay sanam ka deedar kab hoga?”
Us ne kaha bhul jayenge ab ki baar.
To goya sanihay pe sa-niha ab hoga…

Aana tera, maut ka, dono barhaq hai.
Kia jan-na k din hoga kis shab hoga…
Dekh liya hai farishtay ne mera dil,
Ab us par bhi judai ka ghazab hoga!

Kia shay banayi Ishq upar walay ne.
Khud kitna pyara kitna martab hoga?
Mere kafan ko jnjhol lena theek se,
Wahan kia tera kia mera, bas rab hoga…

Kyu tu takta hai haal mera chhup k?
Tulu ka pehar hai, jab hoga tab hoga…
Peeta hai roz kunwa-e-yaar se shafaf,
Woh kyu kisi ki shafa ka talab hoga?

Woh jis ne sikhaya tujay parhna Sohani.
Woh bhi to ik muqam aaly-e-adb hoga.

Urdu Transliteration:

دھڑکنوں كے رکنے کا سبب ہو گا
قید یار کی گلی کا مطب ہو گا
کون مرتا ہے صرف سانس کے رکنے سے
جو اس پر نا مرے تو بے سبب ہو گا

ہم مٹ جاتے ہیں ، وہ پوچھتا ہے
” ناجانے صنم کا دیدار کب ہو گا ؟ “
اس نے کہا بھل جائینگے اب کی بار
تو گویا سانحے پہ سا-نیحا اب ہو گا

آنا تیرا ، موت کا ، دونوں برہم ہے
کیا جننا کس دن ہو گا کس شب ہو گا
دیکھ لیا ہے فرشتے نے میرا دِل ،
اب اس پر بھی جدائی کا غضب ہو گا !

کیا شہ بنائی محبت اوپر والے نے
وہ خود کتنا پیارا کتنا عجب ہو گا ؟
میرے کفن کو جنجحول لینا ٹھیک سے ،
وہاں کیا تیرا کیا میرا ، بس رب ہو گا

کیوں تو تکتا ہے حال میرا چھپ کے ؟
طلوع کا پہر ہے ، جب ہو گا تب ہو گا
پیتا ہے روز کنواں یار سے شفاف ،
کیا کسی اور کی شفا کا طلب ہو گا ؟

وہ جس نے سکھایا تجھے پڑھنا سوحانی
وہ بھی تو اک مقام آل-یی-ادب ہو گا

—  Dedicated to the beloved.

Credits: Base phrase of the poem: “Dhadkanon ke rukne ka sabab hoga” was provided by Madam Sarah Awan.

Tawakkul (The Trust)

Ishq mei tawakkul,
deedar mei rawani hai muje.
Tera husn daymi hai
Aur haqaiq kahani hai muje.

Tu ne jo sun li faryad
kyun auro ko batani hai muje?
Naam leta hun aksar tera
koi aadat dewaani hai muje.

Puuch judai se aur
kitni barsiya manani hai muje?
Tujay dekhte uthta hai jee
werna Zindagi bemayni hai muje.

Banayi sang mar mar,
Bachi ab sirf raigani hai muje.
Teri aankh se behgaya
Kia auron se nibhani hai muje?

Nasha ik k tawasul hai
Pilalo jisne aur pilani hai muje.
Chah k bhi nahi paunga…
yeh konsi badgumani hai muje?

Ye soch k parhta hun sher,
Teri har yaad Sohani hai muje.

– Dedicated to the beloved.