Kaifi Azmi


 

piir-e-tasmaa-paa

mere kaandhe pe baiThaa koii
paRtaa rahtaa hae iNjiil-o-quran-o-ved
makhiyaaN kaan meiN bhanbhanaatii haiN zakhmiiN haiN kaan
apnii aawaaz kaise sunooN

raanaa hindu thaa, akbar musalmaan thaa
sanjya woh pahlaa insaan thaa
hastinapur meiN jisne qabl-e-masih television bamvaayaa
aur ghar baiThe ik andhr raajaa ko yudh kaa tamaashaa dikhaayaa

aadmii chaaNd par aaj utraa tou kyaa, ye taraqqii nahiiN
ab se pahle, bahut pahle
jab zarraa TuuTaa naa thaa; chashmaa jauhar se phuuTaa naa thaa
farsh se arsh tak jaa chukaa hai koii

ye aur aesii bahut-sii jihaalat kii baateiN
mere kaaNdhe pe hotii haiN; kaaNdhe jhuke jaa rahe haiN
qad meraa raat-din ghat rahaa hai
sar kahiiN paaNv se mil naa jaayeN

The Saint With Strapped Feet

Sitting on my shoulders someone
Keeps reading the Bible, the Quran and the Vedas
Flies buzz around my ears; the ears are wounded
How do I hear my own voice?

Rana was Hindu, Akbar was Muslim
Sanjaya was the first person, who, before Christ, made the television
And sitting at home, to a blind king, showed the tamasha of war

So what if man has landed on moon today? This is not progress
When the atom had not been broken
When the fountain of energy had not sprung forth
Someone had gone from the earth to the sky

This and much other ignorant talk
Takes place on my shoulders; my shoulders are drooping
My height is decreasing by night and day
Lest the head should merge with the feet


zindagii

aaj andheraa meri nas nas meiN utar jaayegaa
aaNkheN bujh jaayeNgii, bujh jaayeNge ahsaas-o-shauur
aur ye sadiyoiN se jaltaa-saa sulagtaa-saa vajuud
isse pahle ki sahar maathe pe shabnam chhiRke
isse pahle ki merii beTii ke vah phuul se haath
garm rukhsaar ko ThanDak bakhsheN
isse pahle ke beTe kaa mazbuut badan
tan-e mafluuj meiN shaktii bhar de
isse pahle ki meii biiwii ke hoNt
mere hoNtoN kii tapish pii jaayeN
raakh ho jaayegaa jalte-jalte
aur phir raakh bhikhar jaayegii
zindagii kahne ko be-maayaaN sahii
gham kaa sarmaayaa sahii
maine iske liye kyaa-kyaa naa kiyaa
kabhii aasaanii se ik saaNs bhii yamraaj ko apnaa naa diyaa

aaj se pahle bahut pahle
isii aaNgan meiN
dhuup bhare daaman meiN
maeiN khaRaa thaa, mere talvoN se dhuuaaN uThtaa thaa
ek benaam saa berang saa khauf
kachche ahsaas pe chhayaa thaa ki jal jaauuNgaa
maeiN pighal jaauuNgaa
aur pighalkar meraa kamzor-saa "maeiN"
katraa-katraa tere maathe se Tapak jaayegaa
ro rahaa thaa ashkoN ke bagaer
chiikhtaa thaa magar aavaaz naa thii
maut lahraatii thii sau shakloN meiN
maene har shakl ko ghabraa ke khudaa maan liyaa
kaaT ke rakh diye saNdal ke purasraar darakht
aur pathar se niikaalaa sholaa
aur roshan kiyaa apne se baRaa ek alaav
jaanvar zibah kiye itne ki khuuN kii lahreN
paaNv se uThke kamar tak aayiiN
aur kamar se mere sar tak aayiiN

somras maene piyaa
raat-din raks kiyaa
naachte-naachte talve mere khuuN dene lage
mere aazaa kii thakan
ban gayii kaaNpte hotoN pe bhajan
haDDiyaaN merii chatkhane lagii iiNdhan kii tarah
mantr hoNtoN se Tapakne lage raugan kii tarah
"agnii maataa merii agnii maataa
suukhii lakRii ke ye bhaarii kunde
jo terii bheNt ko le aayaa huuN
unko svikkar kar aur aise dhadhak
ki machalte shole
khiiNch leN josh meiN
suraj kii sunharii julfeiN
aag meiN aag mile;
jo amar kar de mujhe
aesaa koii raag mile"
agnii maaN se bhii naa jiine kii sanad jab payii
zindagii ke naye imkaaN ne lii aNgRaaii
aur kaanoN meiN kahiiN duur se aawaaz aayii
budham sharnam gachchhaamii
dhamam sharnam gachchhaamii
sangham sharnam gachchhaamii
chaar abruu kaa safaayaa karke
besil'e vastr se dhaaNpaa ye badan
ponchh ke patnii ke maathe se damaktii biNdiyaaN
sot'e bachchoN ko binaa pyaar kiye
chal paRaa haath meiN kashkol liye

chahtaa thaa kahiiN bhiikshaa hii meiN jiivan mil jaaye
jo kabhii baNd naa ho, dil ko voh dhaRkan mil jaaye
mujhko bhiikshaa meiN magar zahar milaa
hoNt tharraane lage jaese kare koii gilaa
jhuk ke suulii se usii waqt kisii ne yeh kahaa
tere ek gaal pe jis pal koii thapaR maare
duusraa gaal bhii aage kar de
terii duniyaa meiN bahut hinsaa hae
iske siine meiN ahiiNsaaa bhar de
ki yeh jiine kaa tariqaa bhii hai, aNdaaz bhii hae
terii aawaaz bhii hae, merii aawaaz bhii hae
maeN uThaa jisko ahiNsaa kaa sabaq sikhlaane
mujhko laTkaa diyaa suulii pe usii duniyaa ne
aa rahaa thaa maeN kuuNchoN se Thokar khaakar
ek aawaaz ne rokaa mujhko
kisii miinaar se niiche aakar
allah-ho akbar, allah-ho akbar
huaa dil ko yeh gumaaN
ki yeh purjosh azaaN
maut se degii amaaN
phir tou pahuNchaa mae jahaaN
maene dohraayaa kuchh aese ye azaaN
guuNj uThaa saaraa jahaaN
allah-ho akbar, allah-ho akbar
usii aawaaz meiN ik aur bhii guuNjaa elaan
qull'e min alehaa faan
ek taraf dhal gayaa khurshiid-e-jahaaNtaab kaa sar
huaa faalij kaa asar
phat gayii nas koii, shiryaanoN meiN khuuN jam saa gayaa
ho gayaa zakhmii diimaag
aesaa lagtaa thaa ki bujh jaayegaa jaltaa hae jo sadiyoN se chiiraag
aaj andheraa meri nas nas meiN utar jaayegaa

yeh samandar jo baRii der se tuufaanii thaa
aesaa taRpaa ki mere kamre ke aNdar aayaa
aate-aate veh mere vaaste amrit laayaa
aur lahraa ke kahaa
shiv ne yeh bhijvaayaa hae, lo piyo aur jiyo
aaj shiv ilm hae, amrit hae amal
ab veh aasaaN hae dushvaar thaa kal
raat jo maut kaa paighaam liye aaii thii
biiwii bachchoN ne mere
usko khiRkii se par'e pheNk diiyaa
aur jo veh jahar kaa ik jaam liye aaii thii
usne veh khud hii piyaa
subah utrii jo samandar meiN nahaane ke liye
raat kii laash miilii paanii meiN

Life

Today darkness will descend into my pores.
Eyes will burn out, sense and sensibility will die
So will this existence, smouldering for centuries.
Before this that dawn sprinkles dew on my forehead
Before this that my daughter's flower-like hands
Bring cool relief to my fevered cheeks
Before this that my son's strong body
Fills strength into my paralysed body
Before this that my wife's lips
Drink up the heat of my lips
It will burn to ashes
And then the ashes will scatter
Life might be said to be nothing
And it might as well be nothing but suffering
But what all did I do for it!
Never easily gave even one breath of mine to death

Before today, long ago
In this very courtyard
Sun-skirted
I stood, smoke spiralling out of my soles
A nameless, formless fear
Spread over my raw feelings that I would burn
I would melt
And melted, my weak sense of self
Would drip-drop down from my forehead
I was crying but without tears
Screamed, but there was no voice
Death undulated with a hundred faces
Frightened, I accepted each face as God
Chopped off the mysterious Sandalwood trees
And pulled out a flame from the stones
And lit up a fire larger than myself
Sacrificed so many animals that waves of blood
Rose from the feet to the waist
And from the waist to my head

I drank ambrosia
Danced night and day
Dancing, my soles spewed out blood
The tiredness of my limbs
Became a prayer on trembling lips
My bones crackled like burning wood
Mantras slipped oil-like out of my lips:
"Fire-mother, my fire-mother
These heavy blocks of dried wood
That I have brought as an offering for you
Please accept these and blaze such
That wayward flames
In arduous excitement, pull in
The Sun's golden tresses
Fire meeting with fire;
That which makes me immortal
Such passion may I find"
When I did not find such a grant of life from the fire-mother either
A new possibility of life stretched out
And from somewhere in the distance came a voice to the ears
"I go for refuge to Buddha,
I go for refuge to the Wheel of Law,
I go for refuge to the Sangha"

Shaving off eyebrows
Covering this body with unstitched clothes
Wiping off the shining bindiya from the forehead of wife
Without giving love to my sleeping children
Started out with a begging bowl in my hands
Wished somewhere to find life in begging itself
And, for the heart, a beat that would never stop
But as alms, I got poison
Lips trembled, as if someone making a complaint
At that very moment, someone, bending down from the gallows, said:
The moment someone slaps you on one cheek
Turn the other cheek, too
There is too much violence in your world
Fill up his heart with non-violence
That this too is a way of life, a manner too
It is your voice too, as well as mine
Those to whom I got up to teach the lesson of non-violence to
Were the ones who hung me on the stake
I was returning, kicked around from many lanes
When a voice stopped me
Descended down from a minaret:
God is the greatest! God is the greatest!
The heart felt this notion
That this resounding call
Will protect from death
After that wherever I reached
I repeated this call somewhat thus
That the whole world resounded:
God is the greatest! God is the greatest!
In this call itself, one more announcement echoed
'Everything must perish'
On one side set the Sun that warms the world
Paralysis had its effect
A vein burst, blood, as if, froze in the arteries
The mind got wounded
It seemed as if the lamp lit since centuries, would burn out
Today darkness will descend into my pores.

This ocean that was stormy for long
Turned so agitatedly that it came into my room
While coming, it brought me ambrosia
And it swayed and said
Shiva has sent this, take this, drink and live
Today Shiva is knowledge, immortality is safety
Now it is easy that which was difficult yesterday
Night that had brought the message of death
My wife and kids
Flung it away out of the window
And the cup of poison it had brought
That it drank itself
In the morning when it descended into the ocean to bathe
The corpse of the night was found in the water.


daayraa

roz baRtaa huuN jahaaN se aage
phir vahii lauT ke aa jaataa huuN
barhaa toR chukaa huuN jinko
unhii divaaroN se Takraataa huuN
roz basteN haiN kaii shahar naye
roz dhartii meiN samaa jaate haiN
zalzalo meiN thii zaraa sii garmii
vo bhii ab roz hii aa jaate haiN
jism se ruh talak ret hii ret
naa kahiiN dhuup naa saayaa naa saraab
kitne armaan haiN kis sahraa meiN
kaun rakhtaa hae mazaaroN kaa hiisaab
nabz bujhtii bhii bhaRaktii bhii hae
dil kaa maamuul hae ghabraanaa bhii
raat andhere ne andhere se kahaa
ek aadat hae jiye jaanaa bhii
qaus ik rang kii hoitii hai tuluu'a
ek hii chaal bhii paimaane kii
goshe-goshe meiN khaRii hae masjid
shakl kyaa ho gayii maikhaane kii
kaun kahtaa hae samandar huuN maiN
aur merii jeb meiN qatraa bhii nahii
khairiyat apnii likhaa kartaa huuN
ab to taqdiir meiN khatraa bhii nahiiN
apne haathoN ko paRaa kartaa huuN
kabhii quraaN, kabhii giitaa kii tarah
chaNd rekhaaoN meiN siimaaoN meiN
zindagii qaid hae siitaa kii tarah
raam kab lauTeNge, maaluum nahii
kaash raavan hii koii aa jaataa

circumference

Everyday where I start from
Is exactly where I am back again
The walls I have broken again and again
Are the ones I bang against
Everyday new cities are formed
Everyday they cave into the earth
Earthquakes had a bit of heat
But they too now come everyday
Dust, only dust, from body to soul
No sun, so shade, no mirage
What hopes survive in which desert
Who keeps count of the graves?
The pulse dies and throbs too
The heart after all is wont to worry
Darkness told darkness at night:
To go on living is a habit too
The rainbow dawns with the same colour
The goblet too does the rounds in its own circles
At every corner stands a mosque
What has happened to the tavern's face?
Someone used to call me the ocean
And there's not a drop in my pocket
I am fine, I narrate
Now danger too is not in my fate
I read my hands
At times like the Quran or the Gita
Life's confined, like Sita
In a few lines, in a few boundaries
Don't know when Rama will return
O, if only a Ravana would come!


makaan

aaj kii raat bahut garm havaa chaltii hai
aaj kii raat naa fuT-paath pe niiNd aaegii
sab uTho, maiN bhii uThuu.N, tum bhii uTho, tum bhii uTho
koii khiRkii isii diivaar meN khul jaaegii

ye zamiin tab bhii nigal lene pe aamaadaa thii
paaNv jab TuuTii shaaKhoN se utaare ham ne
in makaanoN ko Khabar hai na makiinoN ko Khabar
un dinoN kii jo gufaaoN meiN guzaare ham ne

haath Dhalate gaye saaNche meiN to thakate kaise
naqsh ke baad naye naqsh nikhaare ham ne
kii ye diivaar buland, aur buland, aur buland
baam-o-dar aur zaraa, aur saNvaare ham ne

aaNdhiyaaN toR liyaa kartii thii shamoN kii laveiN
jaR diye is liye bijalii ke sitaare ham ne
ban gayaa qasr to pahare pe koii baiTh gayaa
so rahe Khaak pe ham shorish-e-taamiir liye

apanii nas-nas meiN liye mehanat-e-paiham kii thakan
band aaNkhoN meiN isii qasr kii tasviir liye
din phighalataa hai isii tarah saroN par ab tak
raat aaNkhoN meiN KhaTakatii hai syaah tiir liye

aaj kii raat bahut garm havaa chaltii hai
aaj kii raat naa fuT-paath pe niiNd aaegii
sab uTho, maiN bhii uThuu.N, tum bhii uTho, tum bhii uTho
koii khiRkii isii diivaar meN khul jaaegii

 House

A very hot breeze blows tonight
Sleep will not come on the footpath, tonight
All arise, I, you, and so do you 
This wall itself will give way to a window

This earth was bent upon swallowing us up even then
When we lowered our feet from the breaking branches
Neither these houses nor the dwellers know
Of the days we spent in the caves

When the hands got cast in the mould, how could they tire
We cleaned image after new image
Made this wall strong, stronger, even more stronger
Embellished the roof and door some more

Dust-storms would snatch away the flames of candles
So we studded the stars of electricity instead
When the palace was ready, someone sat down to guard
While we slept on the dust in the din of construction

Carrying the tiredness of our relentless labour in every vein
While the image of this palace in our shut eyes remains
The day melts like this on our heads still
The night rankles the eyes with black arrows

A very hot breeze blows tonight
Sleep will not come on the footpath, tonight
All arise, I, you, and so do you
This wall itself will give way to a window


duusraa banwaas

raam banwaas se jab lautke ghar meiN aaye
yaad jungle bahut aayaa jo nagar meiN aaye
rakh-se diivaangii aaNgan meiN jo dekhaa hogaa
6 disumbar ko shrii raam ne sochaa hogaa
itne divaane kahaaN se mere ghar ko aaye

jagmagaate the jahaaN raam ke kadmoN ke nishaaN
pyaar kii kahkashaaN letii thii angRaaii jahaaN
moR nafrat ke usii rahguzar se aaye

dharm kyaa unkaa hai kyaa zaat hai yeh jaantaa kaun
ghar naa jaltaa tou unhe raat meiN pahchaantaa kaun
ghar jalaane ko meraa log jo ghar meiN aaye

shaakaahaarii hai mere dost tumhaaraa khanjar
tumne baabar ki taraf pheNke the saare pathar
hai mere sar kii khataa zakhm jo sar meiN aaye

paaNv saryu meiN abhii raam ne dhoye bhii naa the
ki nazar aaye vahaaN khuun ke gahre dhabe
paaNv dhoye binaa saryu ke kinaare se uThe
raajdhaani kii fizaa aayii nahii raas mujhe
6 disambar ko milaa duusraa banvaas mujhe

Second Exile

When Ram returned home from exile
He was reminded of the jungle as he entered the city
Seeing the dance of madness in his courtyard
On 6 December, Ram must have thought:
Where have so many mad men come from to my house?

Where Ram's footsteps used to glitter
Where the milkyway of love would stretch out
The turns of hatred came on the very same pathway

Who knows about their caste or creed?
Had my house not been set afire,
Who would have recognised them at night
The people who came into my house only to burn it?

Your dagger is vegetarian, my friend,
You had thrown all the stone towards Babar
It's the fault of my head that it came in the way

Ram hadn't yet washed his feet in the Saryu
That deep bloodstains were visible there
Without washing his feet, he got up from the bank of the Saryu
The climate of the capital doesn't agree with me
On 6 December I have been given my second exile


aurat

uTh merii jaan mere saath hii chalnaa hai tujhe

qalb-e-mahoul meiN larzaaN sharar-e-jang haiN aaj
hausley waqt ke aur ziist ke yakrang haiN aaj
aabgiinoN meiN tapaaN walwale-e- sang haiN aaj
husn aur ishq ham aawaaz-o-humaahang haiN aaj
jis meiN jaltaa huuN usi aag meiN jalnaa hai tujhe

uTh merii jaan mere saath hii chalnaa hai tujhe

zindagii jehad meiN hai sabr ke qaabuu meiN nahiiN
nabz-e-hastii kaa lahuu kaamptii aaNsuu meiN nahii
uRne khulne meiN hai nakhat kham-e-gesu meiN nahiiN
jannat aik aur hai jo mard ke pahluu meiN nahiiN
uskii aazaad ravish par bhii machalnaa hai tujhe

uTh merii jaan mere saath hii chalnaa hai tujhe

goshey goshey meiN sulagtii hai chitaa tere liye
farz kaa bhes badaltii hai qazaa tere liye
qahar hai terii har narm adaa tere liye
zahar hii zahar hai duniyaa kii havaa tere liye
rut badal Daal agar phuulnaa phalnaa hai tujhe

uTh merii jaan mere saath hii chalnaa hai tujhe

qadr ab tak terii tarriikh ne jaanii hii nahiiN
tujh meiN shole bhii haiN bas ashkfishaanii hii nahiiN
tu haqiiqat bhii hai dilchasp kahaanii hii nahiiN
terii hastii bhii hai ik chiiz javaanii hii nahiiN
apnii tarrikh kaa unvaan badalnaa hai tujhe

uTh merii jaan mere saath hii chalnaa hai tujhe

toRkar rasm ke but baRe qadamat se nikal
zof-e-ishrat se nikal, vaham-e-nazaakat se nikal
nafs ke khiiNche hue halq-e-azmal se nikal
yeh bhii ek qaid hii hai, qaid-e-muhabbat se nikal
raah kaa khaar hii kyaa gul bhii kuchalnaa hai tujhe

uTh merii jaan mere saath hii chalnaa hai tujhe

toR yeh azm-shikan dagdag-e-paNd bhii toR
terii khaatir hai jo zanjiir vah saugandh bhii toR
tauq yeh bhii zammruud kaa gulband bhii toR
toR paimana-e-mardaan-e-khirdmaNd bhii toR
banke tuufaan chhalaknaa hai ubalnaa hai tujhe

uTh merii jaan mere saath hii chalnaa hai tujhe

tuu falaatuno-arastuu haii tuu zohraa parviiN
tere qabze meiN hai garduuN, terii Thokar meiN zamiiN
haaN, uThaa, jald uThaa paae-muqqadar se jabiiN
maiN bhii rukne kaa nahii waqt bhii rukne kaa nahiiN

laRkhaRaayegii kahaaN tak ki sambhalnaa hai tujhe

uTh merii jaan mere saath hii chalnaa hai tujhe


Woman

Get up, my love, you have to walk with me

Today
sparks of war waver in the air
time and life have the same spirit
delicate decanters hiss with the heat of rocks
beauty and love harmonise melodiously
You too have to be ignited by the fire that burns me

Get up, my love, you have to walk with me

Life is in struggle, not in the restraint of patience
The blood of pulsating life is not in trembling tears
Fragrance lies in free-flight, not in the tresses, of hair
There is another Paradise which is not by the side of men
On its free pathways too you have yet to pirouette

Get up, my love, you have to walk with me

For you
burning pyres wait at every corner
death disguised as duty
your every delicate gesture, a curse
nothing but poison in the breeze
Change the season if you wish to flourish

Get up, my love, you have to walk with me

History has not known your worth thus far
You have burning embers too, not merely tears
You're reality too, not a mere amusing anecdote
Your personality is something too, not just your youth
You've to change the title of your history

Get up, my love, you have to walk with me

Emerge out of
ancient bondage, break the idols of tradition,
the weakness of pleasure, this mirage of fragility
these self-drawn boundaries of imagined greatness
the bondage of love, for this too is a bondage
Not merely the thorns on the path but you have to trample on flowers too

Get up, my love, you have to walk with me

Shatter
these resolve breaking suspicions of sermons
these vows that have become shackles
this too, this necklace of emeralds
these standards set by the wise men
You have to turn into a tempest, bubble and boil over

Get up, my love, you have to walk with me

You are Aristotle's philosophy, Venus, Pleiades
You control the sky, the earth at your feet
Yes, raise, fast, raise your forehead from the feet of fate
I too am not going to pause, nor will the time
How long would you falter, you have to be firm

Get up, my love, you have to walk with me


andeshe   
ruh bechaen hai ik dil kii aziiyat kyaa hai
dil hii sholaa hai tou yeh soz-e-mohabbat kyaa hai
wah mujhe bhuul gayii iskii shikaayat kyaa hai
ranj tou yeh hai kii ro ro ke bhuulaayaa hogaa
  

wah kahaaN aur kahaaN kahish-e-gham sozish-e-jaaN
uskii rangiin nazar aur nuqush-e-hirmaaN
uskaa ahsaas-e-latiif aur shikast-e-armaaN
taanaazan ek zamaanaa nazar aayaa hogaa
  

jhuk gayii hogii jawaaN-saal umangoN kii jabiiN
miT gayii hogii lalak Duub gayaa hogaa yaqiiN
chhaa gayaa hogaa dhuwaaN ghuum gayii hogii zamiiN
apne pahle hii gharoNde ko jo Dhaayaa hogaa
  

dil ne aese bhii kuchh afsaane sunaaye hoNge
ashk aaNkhoN ne piye aur naa bahaaye hoNge
baNd kamre meiN jo khat mere jalaaye hoNge
ek ik harf jabiiN par ubhar aayaa hogaa
  

usne ghabraake nazar laakh bachaaii hogii
miTke ik nzqsh ne sau shakl dikhaaii hogii
mez se jab merii tasviir uThaaii hogii
har taraf mujhko taRaptaa huaa paayaa hogaa
  

be-mahal chheR pe jazbaat ubal aaye hoNge
gham pashemaan tabassum meN dhal aaye hoNge
naam par mire aaNsuu nikal aaye hoNge
sar naa kaaNdhe se sahelii ke uThaayaa hogaa
  

zulf zid karke kisii ne jo banaaii hogii
ruThe jalwoN pe khizaaN aur bhii chhaaii hogii
barq ishvoN ne kai din naa giraaii hogii
rang chehare pe kaii roz naa aayaa hogaa
 

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Apprehensions

The soul is restless, what's the suffering of one heart?
If the heart itself is a flame, then what's burning of love?
That she has forgotten me, then what's there to complain?
What hurts is that it would have taken many tears to forget

Where she and where the anxiety of grief, vexations of life
Her many-hued gaze and the engravings of despair
Her subtle sensibility and the defeat of desires
The whole world would have appeared to be mocking

The exultation of youth would have bowed its forehead
The enthusiasm would have vanished, faith drowned
Smoke would have enveloped, the ground would have moved
When she would have destroyed her very first toy-house

The heart would have narrated some such stories too
Eyes wouldn't have stemmed the tears, nor flowed them
When she would have burned my letters in a closed room
Each and every letter would have swelled up on the forehead

Frightened, she would have tried averting her eyes
Each obliterated image would have shown a hundred face
When she would have removed my photograph from the table
She would have found me writhing everywhere

At inopportune teasing, passions would have boiled over
Grief would have been cast in an abashed smile
When the tears would have flowed on a mention of my name
She wouldn't have removed her head from the shoulder of a friend

When someone would have persisted in making her hair
Autumn would have descended even more on sulking splendour
Nobody would have been struck by the lightning of her ways
The colour wouldn't have returned to the face for many days

-

The above nazm was adapted later for the film 
Haqiqat

hoke majbuur mujhe usne bhulaayaa hogaa
jahar chupke se davaa jaan ke khaayaa hogaa
   
dil ne aese bhii kuchh afsaane sunaaye hoNge
ashk aaNkhoN ne piye aur naa bahaaye hoNge
baNd kamre meiN jo khat mere jalaaye hoNge
ek ek harf jabiiN par ubhar aayaa hogaa
  

usne ghabraake nazar laakh bachaaii hogii
miTke ik nzqsh ne sau shakl dikhaaii hogii
mez se jab merii tasviir uThaaii hogii
har taraf mujhko taRaptaa huaa paayaa hogaa
  

chheR kii baat pe armaaN machal aaye hoNge
gham dikhaave kii hasiiN meN ubal aaye hoNge
naam par mire jab aaNsuu nikal aaye hoNge
sar naa kaaNdhe se sahelii ke uThaayaa hogaa
  

zulf zid karke kisii ne jo banaaii hogii
aur bhii gham kii ghaTaa mukhRe pe chhaaii hogii
bijlii nazroN ne kai din naa giraaii hogii
rang chehare pe kaii roz naa aayaa hogaa
 

-

She would have been forced to forget me
She would have quietly taken poison thinking it to be medicine

The heart would have narrated some such stories too
Eyes wouldn't have stemmed the tears, nor flowed them
When she would have burned my letters in a closed room
Each and every letter would have swelled up on the forehead

Frightened, she would have tried averting her eyes
Each obliterated image would have shown a hundred face
When she would have removed my photograph from the table
She would have found me writhing everywhere

Teasing would have prompted tears
Grief would have boiled over in a put-on smile
When the tears would have flowed on a mention of my name
She wouldn't have removed her head from the shoulder of a friend

When someone would have persisted in making her hair
dark clouds of grief would have covered her face
Her eyes wouldn't have flashed lightning for many days
The colour wouldn't have returned to the face for many days

Pathetic, literal, hurried translations by Sundeep Dougal, who would be very grateful if all egregious errors are pointed out and the clumsy literal translations above, particularly of the last nazm, improved upon by interested readers.


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Sonny (Sundeep Dougal) Holden Caulfield, New Delhi, INDIA