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kabhii-kabhii yaad meN ubharte haiN naqsh-e-maazii miTe-miTe se
vo aazmaaiish dil-o-nazar kii, vo qurbateN sii, vo faasile se

kabhii-kabhii aarzuu ke sehraa meN aa ke rukte haiN qaafile se
vo saarii baateN lagaao kii sii, vo saare unvaaN visaal ke se

nigah-e-yaar ko qaraar kaisaa, nishaat-o-Gham meN kamii kahaaN kii
vo jab milte haiN to unse har baar kii hai ulfat naye sire se

bahut giraaN hai ye aish-e-tanhaa, kahiiN sabuktar, kahiiN gavaaraa
vo dard-e-pinhaaN ke saarii duniyaa rafiiq thii jiske vaaste se

tumhiiN kaho rind-e-mustahib meN ho aaj shab kaun farq aisaa
ye aa ke baiThe haiN mai-kade meN, vo uTh ke aaye haiN mai-qade se

Faiz Ahmed Faiz

Translated by David Matthews from An Anthology of Urdu Verse in English.

Sometimes memories of the past
Blurred and faint comes to the mind
Subtly testing heart and eye
Some very near, some left behind

In the desert of desire
Stop caravans sometimes half-seen.
Words of love, vague and unsaid
A union that might have been.

The heart and eye find no repose
Joys and sadness are not few.
When she meets me, every time
Love for her begins anew.

This luxury of loneliness,
Oppressive sometimes, sometimes free;
That inner anguish I have borne,
For which the world befriended me.

The censor and the profligate
In the end gained the same score;
One took his place and drank his fill
The other left by the tavern door.

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