Sunday, April 22, 2012

मजबूर-ए-वफ़ा/Bound by faith

तुझको कितनों का लहू चाहिए ऐ अर्ज़-ए-वतन
जो तेरे आरिज़-ए-बेरंग को गुलनार करे
कितनी आहों से कलेजा तेरा ठंडा होगा
कितने आंसू तेरे सहराओं को गुलज़ार करे
तेरे ऐवानों में पुर्ज़े हुए पैमाँ कितने
कितने वादे जो न आसूदा-ए-इक़रार हुए
कितनी आँखों को नज़र खा गयी बद्ख्वाहों की
ख्वाब कितने तेरी शहराहों में संगसार हुए 

"बला कशान-ए-मुहब्बत पे, जो हुआ सो हुआ
जो मुझपे गुजरी मत उससे कहो, हुआ सो हुआ
मबादा हो कोई ज़ालिम तेरा गरीबां-गीर
लहू के दाग तू दामन से धो, हुआ सो हुआ"

हम तो मजबूर-ए-वफ़ा हैं मगर ऐ जान-ए-जहाँ 
अपने उश्शाक़ से ऐसा भी कोई करता है
तेरी महफ़िल को खुदा रक्खे अबद तक क़ायम
हम तो मेहमान घड़ी भर के, हमारा क्या है

O motherland, how much more blood must you drink up?
To make your wilted blossoms look some more florid
How many sighs will soothe your sunk downtrodden heart?
How long will tears irrigate your lands arid?
All your palaces are full of unfulfilled vows
Countless promises were just never lived up to
The evil eye was cast upon so many lives
And many dreams were stoned to death in your streets too

"Damn all these evil ones, what has been is but past
Don't tell them what I've been through, word will travel fast
God forbid some tyrant brings harm unto you too
Wash these bloodstains off your clothes, this will never last"

My faith binds me to your fate O my darling land
But who treats a lover with such outright disgust?
May God bless your majestic charms till kingdom come
I'm but a moment's tale, and will return to dust

यब्का वजह-ए-रब्बका/All that remains

हम देखेंगे 
लाजिम है कि हम भी देखेंगे
वो दिन कि जिसका वादा है
जो लौह-ए-अज़ल पर लिखा है 

जब ज़ुल्म-ओ-सितम के कोह-ए-गिरां 
रुई की तरह उड़ जायेंगे
हम महकूमों के पांव तले
ये धरती धड़-धड़ धड़केगी
और अहल-ए-हुकुम के सर ऊपर
जब बिजली कड़-कड़ कड़केगी 

जब अर्ज़-ए-खुदा के काबे से 
सब बुत उठवाये जायेंगे
हम अहल-ए-सफ़ा मरदूद-ए-हरम
मसनद पे बिठाये जायेंगे
सब ताज उछाले जायेंगे
सब तख़्त गिराए जायेंगे

बस नाम रहेगा अल्लाह का
जो गायब भी है हाज़िर भी
जो मंज़र भी है नाज़िर भी
उट्ठेगा 'अनल हक़' का नारा 
जो मैं भी हूँ और तुम भी हो
और राज करेगी खल्क़-ए-खुदा
जो मैं भी हूँ और तुम भी हो

हम देखेंगे
लाजिम है कि हम भी देखेंगे 

We shall witness
It's inevitable that we shall
That day we have been promised
Carved on the holy tablets

When mountains of tyranny
Will vaporize like clouds
Beneath our plebeian feet
The ground will shake and quake
When lightning strikes their heads
The high and mighty too will break

Almighty Lord's dominions
Will be sans every false prophet
Us kosher ones, shunned like demons
Will be given cushions to sit
All crowns will break down bit by bit
All seats of power will be hit

All that remains will be The Word
That is hidden but in plain sight
That is both seer and the sight
'I am the truth', will be our cry
Which is true of both me and you
His people will rule earth and sky
Which is true of both me and you

We shall witness
It's inevitable that we shall

~फैज़  (lost in translation)

Friday, April 20, 2012

मेरे-तेरे/Yours is mine

मेरी-तेरी निगाह में
जो लाख इंतज़ार हैं
जो मेरे-तेरे तन-बदन में
लाख दिल-फ़िगार हैं 
जो मेरी-तेरी उँगलियों की बेहिसी से 
सब क़लम नज़ार हैं 
जो मेरे-तेरे शहर में
हर इक गली में
मेरे-तेरे नक्श-ए-पा के बेनिशां मज़ार हैं 
जो मेरी-तेरी रात के
सितारे ज़ख्म-ज़ख्म हैं
जो मेरी-तेरी सुबह के 
गुलाब चाक-चाक हैं 
ये ज़ख्म सारे बेदवा
ये चाक सारे बेरफ़ू
किसी पे राख चाँद की 
किसी पे ओस का लहू 

ये हैं भी या नहीं बता
ये हैं की महज़ जाल हैं
मेरे तुम्हारे अनकबूत-ए-वहम का बुना हुआ
ये है तो इसका क्या करें
नहीं है तो भी क्या करें
बता बता
बता बता 

Your eyes and mine
Await each other's sight
Both of our bodies
Contain a heart torn by its plight
Just like yours, my fingers are too shaky
To hold a pen just right
In your town and mine
Every single street
Houses memorials to our footprints, hidden from plain sight
The stars that lit up our nights
Are wounded and bleeding
Our rose-tinted mornings
Are cut up into pieces
These wounds can never heal
These cuts you just can't sew
Some powdered with moondust
Some bleed of morning dew

Tell me, are all these real?
Or is it a cobweb?
Spun by the spiders of our past
If it's real, what good is it?
Even if not, what good is it?
Tell me
Just tell me

~फैज़ (lost in translation)

Thursday, April 19, 2012

I in the sky

Can't catch myself
Much as I try
Running from this moment to that
Like a dog chasing its tail
Inventing motives
Creating reasons
To grow old and die

But in all this, where am I?

Tathagat, you were right
Always knew you were right
Everyone knows it, Hume sure does
But most of them are scared to admit
Rituals are too much fun
But when all's said and done
Who knows who made all this?
Or if all this was even made...
All that can be said with certainty
Is that Earthlings are small fry

And as one, so am I

Hindus, you are not what you were
When you were not Hindus
You could live your life without
Cursing and frothing at the mouth
At imagined insults to supposedly sacred symbols
Worrying too much about birthplaces of Gods
Believing in too many stories
Questioning the motives of every non-Hindu Hindustani
Asking where his loyalties really lie

Thank God that I am I

Muslims, you had conquered the world
Without killing off your best and brightest
Sure, there were wars back then too
But no one died without a clue
Twenty-somethings weren't sacrificed
At the altar of exaggerated interpretations
And political motivations
Ghazali was faithful, never mean
But crusades taught the Muslimeen
To disguise truth as lie

Think beyond you and I

Christians, I don't know much of you
Except that not too long ago
You were the most fanatical ones around
Until the Upanishads were found
You were witch-hunting and converting
Others to your faith
Though that's not what your scripture sayeth
Your religion sure is a funny one
To progress, it had to die

Oh Jesus, please don't cry!

Atheists, what is the deal with you?
What's so great about not believing?
Whether or not there is a God
Is something you don't care about
And yet you must scream and shout
Denying his existence
Under the pretense
Of rationality and independence
You like to think there's a rationale
Behind an irrational like pi
But to understand the irrational

You must begin with I

This being, that will always arise
Existence is both curse and prize
But you are not just you
And I am not just I
We are one

And we never die

Tuesday, April 17, 2012

मुसाफ़िर-ए-मन/Heartraveller


मेरे दिल मेरे मुसाफिर
हुआ फिर से हुक्म सादिर
के वतन-बदर हों हम-तुम
दें गली-गली सदाएं
करें रुख नगर-नगर का
के सुराग कोई पाएं
किसी यार-ए-नामाबर का
हर इक अजनबी से पूछें
जो पता था अपने घर का

सर-ए-कू-ए-नाशनासां
हमें दिन से रात करना
कभी इससे बात करना
कभी उससे बात करना

O my heart, let's explore
We must walk out this door
And leave our home behind
Call out on every street
And head to every place
Who knows who we may meet
A guide or friendly face
We can ask some stranger
How to find our own space

On these unknown pathways
We wander day and night
Chat up those who're alright
Even those who're uptight

~फैज़ (lost in translation)