Aligarians.com

Dear Fellow Travellers,

aadaab arz hai !

It is with great pride and immense satisfaction that I present to you the 200th post of Aligarians.com. Together, in the past 6 months we have explored and experienced the sublime world of Urdu poetry. Courtesy each one of you, the website has achieved a lot of popularity and is slowly emerging as the one-stop destination for Urdu poetry. Most of the content is original i.e. it is not available on the web elsewhere in Roman transliteration. Almost, all the Ghazals and Nazms have either English translations available or the meaning of difficult words provided. We also have a growing collection of Mushaira audio/video recordings and were the first website to provide Mushaira videos online.

Currently there are 151 Ghazals, 42 Nazms and 46 Mushaira Recordings of more than 75 Poets available at the website. There are a lot of activities in pipeline and suggestions for the betterment are always welcome.

Thank you all once again and with that I leave you with a beautiful nazm by Miraji.

————-

mujhe ghar yaad aataa hai

simaT kar kis liye nuqtaa nahiiN bantii zamiiN? kah do !
ye phailaa aasmaaN us vaqt kyuN dil ko lubhaataa thaa?
har ek samt ab anokhe log haiN aur un kii baateN haiN
ko’ii dil se phisal jaatii, ko’ii siine men chubh jaatii
inhiiN baatoN kii lahroN par bahaa jaataa hai ye bajraa !
jise saahil nahiiN miltaa

maiN jis ke saamne aauuN mujhe laazim hai halkii muskaraahaT
meN kaheN ye hoNT “tum ko jaanta huN”, dil kahe “kab jaanta huN maiN?”
inhii lahroN pe bahta huuN mujhe saahil nahiiN miltaa

simaT kar kis liye nuqtaa nahiiN bantii zamiiN, kah do!
vo kaisii muskuraahaT thii, bahan kii muskaraahaT thii,
meraa bhaaii bhii haNstaa thaa
vo haNstaa thaa, bahan hanstii hai, apne dil meN kahtii hai
ye kaisii baat bhaa’ii ne kahii, dekho vo ammaaN, aur abbaa ko hansii aayii
magar yuN vaqt bahtaa hai tamaasha ban gaya saahil
mujhe saahil nahiiN miltaa !

simaT kar kis liye nuqta nahiN bantii zamiiN kah do!
ye kaisa pher hai, taqdiir ka ye pher to shaayad nahiiN, lekin
ye phailaa aasmaaN us vaqt kyuN dil ko lubhaataa thaa?
hayaat-e-mukHtasar sab kii bahi jaati hai aur maiN bhi
har ek ko dekhta huN, muskuraata hai ke hansta hai
ko’ii haNstaa nazar aaye, ko’ii rotaa nazar aaye
maiN sab ko dekhta huN dekh kar Khaamosh rahtaa huN
mujhe saahil nahiiN miltaa !

Miraji

Translation by M.A.R. Habib from An Anthology of Modern Urdu Poetry
I Remember Home

Why, I ask, does the earth not shrink to a point?
Why at first, did this wide sky lure the heart?
All around are strange people, strange words:
Some slide over the heart, others pierce it.
On these waving words flows the heart’s vessel,
Which finds no shore.

Whomever I meet I duly greet, smiling, but what lips affirm
In “I know you,” the heart denies with “I don’t.”
I move on those waves
And find no shore.

Why does this earth not shrink to a point?
What a smile, my sister’s smile, my brother laughing,
She delighting in his wordss,
Delighting in our parent’s laughter !
Yet time flows on, the shore a spectacle.
I find no shore.

Why does th earth not shrink to a point?
Perhaps this cycle lies outside of fate; why
Did this wide sky once lure the heart?

The brief life of all things flows on; and I
Watch each one, smiling, laughing,
Weeping.
Watching, I am silent.
I find no shore.

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