Home | March '99 Index

Date: 24-Mar-99
Poet: Faiz Ahmed Faiz

raushan kahii.n bahaar ke imkaa.N huye to hai.n 
gulashan me.n chaak cha.nd garebaa.N huye to hai.n

[Some signs of spring are visible now, at long last
Some flowers with torn cloaks, we can now see]

[imkaa.N = possibility; chaak = torn; garebaa.N = clothes/outer garment/cloak]


ab bhii Khizaa.N kaa raaj hai lekin kahii.n kahii.n
goshe rah-e-chaman me.n Gazal-Khvaa.N huye to hai.n

[Khizaa.N = autumn; goshaa = corner; Gazal-Khvaa.N = singing]

[Though autumn still reigns but in places, nevetheless
The sound of singing can be found in some corners of the garden]


Thaharii huyii hai shab kii siyaahii vahii.n magar 
kuchh kuchh sahar ke ra.ng par-afshaa.N huye to hai.n

[The darkness of the the night does not seem to lessen
Yet the colours of dawn can be seen in the Eastern sky]

in me.n lahuu jalaa ho hamaaraa ke jaan-o-dil
mahafil me.n kuchh chiraaG farozaa.N huye to hai.n

[Whether it uses our blood or our heart and soul
Some lamps are now ablaze in the gathering]


ahal-e-qafas kii subah-e-chaman me.n khulegii aa.Nkh
baad-e-sabaa se vadaa-e-paimaa.N huye to hai.n

[The prisoners will now awake in the flush of the dawn  
We have had such a promise from the morning breeze]


hai dasht ab abhii dasht magar Khuun-e-paa se "Faiz"
sairaab cha.nd Khaar-e-muGelaa.N huye to hai.n

[The wilderness is still a wilderness but with our bleeding feet "Faiz"
We have managed to reclaim some of the thorns from this