tere honton ke phulon ki chahat men ham
daar ki khushk tahni pe vaare gae
tere haton ki shamon ki hasrat men ham
nim-tarik rahon men maare gae
We who were Executed
suliyon par hamare labon se pare
tere honton ki laali lapakti rahi
teri zulfon ki masti barasti rahi
tere hathon ki chandi damakti rahi
I longed for your lips, dreamed of their roses:
I was hanged from the dry branch of the scaffold.
I wanted to touch your hands, their silver light:
I was murdered in the half-light of dim lanes.
jab ghuli teri rahon men sham-e-sitam
ham chale aae laae jahan tak qadam
lab pe harf-e-ghazal dil men qindil-e-gham
apna gham tha gavahi tire husn ki
dekh qaaem rahe is gavahi pe ham
ham jo tarik rahon pe maare gae
And there where you were crucified,
so far away from my words,
you still were beautiful:
color kept clinging to your lips
rapture was still vivid in your hair-
light remained silvering in your hands.
na-rasai agar apni taqdir thi
teri ulfat to apni hi tadbir thi
kis ko shikva hai gar shauq ke silsile
hijr ki qatl-gahon se sab ja mile
When the night of cruelty merged with the roads you had taken,
I came as far as my feet could bring me,
on my lips the phrase of a song,
my heart lit up only by sorrow.
this sorrow was my testimony to your beauty-
Look! I remained a witness till the end,
I who was killed in the darkest lanes.
qatl-gahon se chun kar hamare alam
aur niklenge ushshaq ke qafile
jin ki rah-e-talab se hamare qadam
mukhtasar kar chale dard ke fasle
kar chale jin ki khatir jahangir ham
jaan ganva kar tiri dilbari ka bharam
ham jo tarik rahon men maare gae
It’s true that not to reach you was fate
but who’ll deny that to love you
was entirely in my hands?
So why complain if these matters of desire
brought me inevitably to the execution grounds?
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