yaad

by Faiz Ahmed Faiz

yaad

 

dasht-e-tanhā.ī meñ ai jaan-e-jahāñ larzāñ haiñ

terī āvāz ke saa.e tire hoñToñ ke sarāb

dasht-e-tanhā.ī meñ duurī ke khas o khaak tale

khil rahe haiñ tire pahlū ke saman aur gulāb

 

uTh rahī hai kahīñ qurbat se tirī saañs k aañch

apnī khushbū meñ sulagtī huī maddham maddham

duur ufuq paar chamaktī huī qatra qatra

gir rahī hai tirī dildār nazar kī shabnam

 

is qadar pyaar se ai jaan-e-jahāñ rakkhā hai

dil ke rukhsār pe is vaqt tirī yaad ne haat

yuuñ gumāñ hotā hai garche hai abhī sub.h-e-firāq

Dhal gayā hijr kā din aa bhiī ga.ī vasl kī raat

Note: The original text appears in transliterated Roman Urdu due to incompatibilities between the original script and our publishing software. Many thanks to the translator for providing the transliteration. 

Memory

by Faiz Ahmed Faiz

In the desert of solitude, my love, are tremors

the shadows of your voice, mirages of your lips

 

In the desert of solitude, beneath the ash

and dust of distance, blossom the jasmines and roses

of your touch

 

A flame of your breath rises somewhere nearby,

smoldering          softly     in its own perfume

 

far beyond the horizon       your heartening eyes

drop shimmering dew

 

How lovingly, my love, your memory visits me,

lays her hand on my heart:

I surmise—though, this is the dawn of parting

 

—that the day of migration has waned

      and the night of our union, crested

translated from Urdu by Umair Kazi
more>>