Ye jo raig-e-dasht-e-firaaq hai...

Ye jo raig-e-dasht-e-firaaq (sands of the desert of anxeity) hai,
ye ruke agar...

Ye ruke agar to nishaan (marks) mile;
ye nishaan mile,
ke jo faaslon ki saleeb (cross) hai
ye gadi hui hai kahaan kahaan.

Mere aasmaan se kidhar gayi tere iltefaat (benevolance) ki kehkashaan (galaxy).

Mere Bekhabar (ignorant), mere Benishaan (untracable),
ye ruke agar to pata chale
main tha kis nagar, tu raha kahan.

Ke zamaan-o-makaan (time and space) ki vus'atein (vastness)
tujhe dekhne ko taras gayin.

Wo mere naseeb ki barishein, 

kisi aur chhat pe baras gayin.

Mere chaar suu (all four sides) hai ghubaar-e-jaan ( dust storm of life), wo fishaar-e-jaan (pressure of life)...
ke khabar nahin mere haath ko mere haath ki.

Mere khwaab se tere baam (window) tak,
teri rehguzar ka to zikr kya,
nahin zaufishaan (clear/luminous) tera naam tak.

Hain dhuaan dhuaan mere ustakhwan (bones).
Mere aansuon mein bujhe hue mere ustakhwan.

Mere naqshgar (painter), mere naqsh-e-jaan (painting of life)!

Isi raig-e-dasht-e-firaaq mein rahe muntazir (waiting);
tere muntazir;
mere khwaab jin ke fishaar mein
rahi mere haal se bekhabar
teri rehguzar.

Teri rehguzar ke jo naqsh (marks) hain mere haath per,
magar is bala ki hai teergi (darkness)
ke khabar nahin mere haath ko mere haath ki.

Wo jo chashm-e-shobeda-saaz (eyes of the illusionist) thi wo uthe agar;
mere ustakhwan mein ho raushni.

Usi aik lamha-e-deed (moment of sight) mein teri rehguzar
meri teera-jaan (dark soul) mein chamak uthe.

Mere khwaab se tere baam tak
sabhi manzaron mein damak uthe.

Usi aik pal mein ho jaavidaan (eternity),
meri arzoo, ke hai be-karaan (vast),
meri zindagi ke hai mukhtasar (short).

Ye jo raig-e-dasht-e-firaaq hai, ye ruke agar

~Amjad Islam Amjad

Koi tasweer mukammal nahi hone paayi...

Ab jo dekhein to koi aisi badi baat na thi;

Ye shab-o-roz (nights and days), mah-o-saal (months and years) ka purpaich (intricate) safar
qadr-e-aasaan (in easy proportion) bhi ho sakta tha!

Ye jo har mod pe kuchh uljhe hue raaste hain,
in mein tarteeb (order) ka imkaan (chance) bhi ho sakta tha.

Hum zara dhyaan se chalte
to woh ghar
jis ke
baam-o-dar-o-deewaar (windows and doors and walls) pe veeraani (emptiness) hai,
jis ki har subah mein shaamo ki pareshaani hai,
uss mein ham chain se aabaad bhi ho sakte the.

Bakht (destiny) se amn (peace) ki raahein bhi nikal sakthi thien.
Waqt se sulah (peace) ka paimaan (commitment) bhi ho saktha tha.

Ab jo dekhein to bahut saaf nazar aate hain;
saare manzar (scenes) bhi
pas-e-manzar (behind the scenes) bhi.

Lekin is der-khayaali (late realization) ka sila (result) kya hoga?

Ye to sab baad ki baatein hain, Meri Jaan, inhein
dekhte, sochte rehne se bhala kya hoga?

Woh jo hona tha, hua; ho bhi chuka!

Waqt ki loh (paper) pe likhi hui tehreer (script) ke harf (letters/words)
Khat-e-tanseekh (writing of cancellation) se waqif (aware) hi nahi
Bakht maktab (school) ke register ki tarah hota hai;
apne number pe jo "Labbaik!" ("I answer you!") nahi keh paate,
un ka kucch uzr (excuse) nahi... koi bhi faryaad (appeal) nahi!

Ye wo taa'ir (birds) hain jinhein apni nawa (sound/voice) yaad nahi.

Line-ein (lines) kat’ti rahin, lafz badalne ke sabab (reason)
Koi tehreer musalsal (continue) nahi hone paayi
Haasil-e-umr (yield of life) - yahi chand (a few) adhoore khaake (sketches)
Koi tasweer mukammal (complete) nahi hone paayi...

~Amjad Islam Amjad

Satellite

A video of time lapse images of earth taken from NASA's ISS inspired me to write down a few lines, which Im not sure can be called a poem.

From not so far
from a man-made star
looking down
under the white blankets
between those sparkling lights
somewhere we exist

Fighting each other
marking lines on the land
worrying who owns what
who's colour is different than ours

From the man-made star
it all looks one
On that sparkling globe
I almost don’t exist
Wonder why we bother
when so small is our existence
Almost insignificant!

Khwaab marte nahin...

Khwaab marte nahin

Khwaab dil hain na aankhen na saansen
ke jo
reza-reza hue to bikhar jayenge
jism ki maut se ye bhi mar jayenge

Khwaab marte nahin

Khwaab to raushni hain, nawa(sound) hain, hawa hain
jo kaale pahaadon se rukte nahin
zulm ki dozakhon(hells) se bhii phunkte nahin

Raushni aur nawa aur hawa ke alam(flags)
maqtalon(place of execution) mein pahunch kar bhi jhukte nahin

Khwaab to harf(letter/word) hain
Khwaab to nuur(light) hain
Khwaab suqraat(Socretes) hain
Khwaab mansuur(victorious) hain

~Ahmed Faraz

TV songs!

My cousins from Pakistan used to tell me that their TV industry is bigger than their film industry. Its not surprising that the original sound tracks of their serials are of such superior quality.

These two songs have been on my ipod for quite sometime and often played on a repeat.

Ajab dil ki dhamak...

...Ye kis manzar mein tumne saath chhora;
Meri tasweer aadhi rah gayi hai.

What beautiful lines!

And the second and more popular one is-

Woh humsafar tha...

Such powerful voice Quratulain Baloch has got. I became a fan instantly.

And while we are on it, I remember an old TV song that I used to (and still) love. This one is from an Indian series. Though interestingly it was made in collaboration with Pakistani artists.

Javed Akhtar wrote some beautiful lines...

Dekhiye to lagta hai
zindagi ki raahon mein
ek bheed chalti hai
sochiye to lagta hai, bheed mein hain sab tanha...