Nauhaa
kabhii kabhii yaad me.n ubharate hai.n naqsh-e-maazii miTe miTe se
Faiz Ahmed Faiz
kabhii kabhii yaad me.n ubharate hai.n naqsh-e-maazii miTe miTe se
vo aazamaa_ish sii dil-o-nazar kii, vo qurabate.n sii vo faasale se
[maazii=past; naqsh=trace/memories; aazamaa_ish=test; qurabate.n=nearness; faasale=distances]
(Sometimes memories of the past come to mind, blurred and faint
subtly testing the heart and eye, some near, some far away)
kabhii aarazuu ke seharaa me.n aake rukate hai.n qaafile se
vo saarii baate.n lagaav kii sii vo saare unavaa.N visaal ke se
[seharaa=desert; qaafilaa=caravan; lagaav=attachment]
[unavaa.N=start; visaal=meeting with a beloved]
(they stop in the desert of desire, like caravans half-unseen
like words of love left unsaid, like a meeting that might have been)
nigah-o-dil ko qaraar kaisaa nishaat-o-Gam me.n kamii kahaa.N kii
vo jab mile hai.n to un se har baar kii hai ulfat naye sire se
[nishaat=joy]
(the heart and eye have found no peace, my joys or sorrows are not few
everytime I have met her, I have started to love her anew)
bahut giraa.N hai ye aish-e-tanhaa kahii.n sabukatar kahii.n gavaaraa
vo dard-e-pinhaa.N ki saarii duniyaa rafiiq thii jisake vaaste se
[giraa.N=expensive; aish-e-tanhaa=luxury of loneliness]
[sabukatar=oppressive; gavaaraa=acceptable; pinhaa.N=hidden]
[rafiiq=friendly]
(this luxury of loneliness is expensive, sometimes unbearable, sometimes appealing
the inner anguish that I have borne for which the world befriended me)
tumhii.n kaho ri.nd-o-muhtasib me.n ho aaj shab kaun farq aisaa
ye aake baiThe hai.n maikade me.n vo uThake aaye hai.n maikade se
[ri.nd=one who drinks; muhtasib=one who stops from others drinking]
(the censor and the profligate both helped maintain the score
one took his place and drank his fill, the other left by the tavern door)