jaag ai sham-e-shabistan-e-visal
mahfil-e-khvab ke is farsh-e-tarab-nak se jaag!
lazzat-e-shab se tira jism abhi chuur sahi
aa miri jaan mere paas dariche ke qarib
dekh kis pyaar se anvar-e-sahar chumte hain
masjid-e-shahar ke minaron ko
jin ki rifat se mujhe
apni barson ki tamanna ka khayal aata hai
Near the Window
sim-gun hathon se ai jaan zara
khol mai-rang junun-khez ankhen
usi minar ko dekh
subh ke nuur se shadab sahi
usi minar ke saae tale kuchh yaad bhi hai
apne bekar khuda ki manind
unghta hai kisi tarik nihan-khane men
ek aflas ka maara hua mulla-e-hazin
ek ifrit udaas
tiin sau saal ki zillat ka nishan
aisi zillat ke nahin jis ka mudava koi
Lamp of Love’s chamber, awake!
Wake from this joyful floor of soft dreams
Your body still tired from night’s pleasure
Come by me, lover, near the window
And see with what passion dawn’s rays
Kiss the minarets of our city’s mosque
Whose height brings to mind my Age-long desire
dekh bazar men logon ka hujum
be-panah sail ke manind ravan
jaise jinnat bayabanon men
mishalen le ke sar-e-sham nikal aate hain
un men har shakhs ke siine ke kisi goshe men
ek dulhan si bani baithi hai
timtimati hui nannhi si khudi ki qindil
lekin itni bhi tavanai nahin
badh ke un men se koi shola-e-javvala bane!
in men muflis bhi hain bimar bhi hain
zer-e-aflak magar zulm sahe jaate hain
With your silver-white hands, my lovers
Open those wine-dark, bewildering eyes
See this minaret
Watered by early light
Beneath its shadow, I remember
A mournful, penniless priesto
Drowsing in a dark, hidden corner
Like a useless god
A devil, distressed!
Here is the stain of three hundred years
An indignity without cure.
See the crowd in the market place
Moving, an endless flow
As jinns in the wastelands
Emerge at early evening, bearing torches
A bride-like figure sits
In the corner of each man’s heart
the tiny lantern of Self flickers
Without strength to burst into
Spinning flame
Among these are the poor, the sick
Below the heavens tyranny marches on.
I an old, weary, ambling horse
Ridden by Hunger, hard and robust
I too, like others in the city
Come out, after each night of love, to
All this rubbish
the sky is turning where
At night I return to this same house
Knowing my helplessness, I peer again l
through this window
At the minarets of our city’s mosque
When they kiss the red sky a sad farewell.
ek budha sa thaka-manda sa rahvar huun main
bhuuk ka shah-savar
sakht-gir aur tanomand bhi hai
main bhi is shahr ke logon ki tarah
har shab-e-aish guzar jaane par
ba-har-e-jam-e-khas-o-khashak nikal jaata huun
charkh gardan hai jahan
shaam ko phir usi kashane men laut aata huun
bebasi meri zara dekh ke main
masjid-e-shahr ke minaron ko
is dariche men se phir jhankta huun
jab unhen alam-e-rukhsat men shafaq chumti hai