A masterpiece indeed, was written when Faiz was in prison… try to see the beauty in the way he recalls the old memories …his homeland and the ‘life’ that used to be…
tumhaarii yaad ke jab zaKhm bharane lagate hain
kisii bahaane tumhe.n yaad karane lagate hain
hadiis-e-yaar ke unwaan nikharane lagate hain
to har har’am mein gesuu san’warne lagate hain
[har’am - house] [gesuu - hair]
har ajnabi hamen mahram dikhai detaa hai
jo ab bhi teri gali gali se guzarane lagate hain
[maharam=acquaintance]
sabaa se karate hain Gurbat-nasiib zikr-e-vatan
to chashm-e-subah mein aansoo ubharne lagate hain
[sabaa - air/wind, zikr-e-vatan - talk about homeland]
[Gurbat-nasiib=those in exile; chashm=eye]
vo jab bhi karate hain is nutq-o-lab ki baKhiyaagarii
fazaa mein aur bhi naghme bikharne lagate hain
[nutq-o-lab=speech and lips]
dar-e-qafas pe andhere ki muhar lagati hai
to “Faiz” dil mein sitaare utarane lagate hain
[dar-e-qafas=door of the prison]
----------------------------------------------- * Faiz Ahmed Faiz *
Before you came things were just what they were:
the road precisely a road, the horizon fixed,
the limit of what could be seen,
a glass of wine no more than a glass of wine.
With you the world took on the spectrum
radiating from my heart: your eyes gold
as they open to me, slate the colour
that falls each time I lose all hope.
With your advent roses burst into flame:
you were the artist of dried-up leaves,sorceress
who flicked her wrist to change dust into soot.
You lacquered the night black.
As for the sky, the road, the cup of wine:
one was my tear-drenched shirt,
the other an aching nerve,
the third a mirror that never reflected the same thing.
Now you are here again - stay with me.
This time things will fall into place;
the road can be the road,
the sky nothing but the sky;
the glass of wine, as it should be, the glass of wine.
Each star a rung,
night comes down the spiral
staircase of the evening.
The breeze passes by so very close
as if someone just happened to speak of love.
In the courtyard,
the trees are absorbed refugees
embroidering maps of return on the sky.
On the roof,
the moon - lovingly, generously -
is turning the stars
into a dust of sheen.
From every corner, dark-green shadows,
in ripples, come towards me.
At any moment they may break over me,
like the waves of pain each time I remember
this separation from my lover.
This thought keeps consoling me:
though tyrants may command that lamps be smashed
in rooms where lovers are destined to meet,
they cannot snuff out the moon, so today,
nor tomorrow, no tyranny will succeed,
no poison of torture make me bitter,
if just one evening in prison
can be so strangely sweet,
if just one moment anywhere on this earth.
-- Faiz Ahmed Faiz
[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by initiator: *
A masterpiece indeed, was written when Faiz was in prison... try to see the beauty in the way he recalls the old memories ...his homeland and the 'life' that used to be...
tumhaarii yaad ke jab zaKhm bharane lagate hain
kisii bahaane tumhe.n yaad karane lagate hain
hadiis-e-yaar ke unwaan nikharane lagate hain
to har har'am mein gesuu san'warne lagate hain
[har'am - house] [gesuu - hair]
har ajnabi hamen mahram dikhai detaa hai
jo ab bhi teri gali gali se guzarane lagate hain
[maharam=acquaintance]
sabaa se karate hain Gurbat-nasiib zikr-e-vatan
to chashm-e-subah mein aansoo ubharne lagate hain
[sabaa - air/wind, zikr-e-vatan - talk about homeland]
[Gurbat-nasiib=those in exile; chashm=eye]
vo jab bhi karate hain is nutq-o-lab ki baKhiyaagarii
fazaa mein aur bhi naghme bikharne lagate hain
[nutq-o-lab=speech and lips]
dar-e-qafas pe andhere ki muhar lagati hai
to "Faiz" dil mein sitaare utarane lagate hain
[dar-e-qafas=door of the prison]
----------------------------------------------- * Faiz Ahmed Faiz *
[/QUOTE]