shahr ki sab se badi hotel ki chhat par
us ka sar mandla raha tha
aur sahil ke qarib
sard aur mahfuz tah-khane ki tah ko
pair us ka chhu raha tha
haae vo kitna bada thaa!
us ke daaen haath men jakde hue the
kar-khane kampaniyan bazar bank
aur baaen haath par us ke dhare the
baar thetar hotlen juue ke adde qahba-khane
sar-nigun us ke anguthon ke isharon par siyasat ki mashinon ke batan
ahani shanon par us ke
be-zamin be-ashiyan kaale parinde jhulte the
dum nacha kar par phula kar
har ghadi us ko hava ka rukh batate
us ki sanson ki sifarish ki faza men ji rahe the
naaf us ki markaz-e-saql-e-zamana
pet us kaa, pet bharne ke vasael ka khazana
vo sadak se daftaron se aur gharon se
rengte baune uthata
apni kuhni aur kalai par chalata
hasab-e-mansha zaiqe ke taur par un ko chabata ja raha tha
us ka saaya chaar janib shahr par chhaya hua tha
haae vo kitna bada thaa!
jaan lekin us qavi-haikal ki us ke gardan-o-sar men na thi
jaan thi takhnon men us ki
us ke takhne
sard aur mahfuz tah-khane ki tah se thoda uupar
duur tak phaile hue be-ruh sahil par ayaan the
aur vahin ik dil-zada bezar ‘musa’
shahr ki sab se badi hotel ki chhat ko chhu na sakne se khafif
na-balad takhnon ki kamzori se dev-e-asr ki
apne imkan aur irade ke asa ki zarb se na-ashna
nim-murda sard be-his ret par soya hua tha
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