LOST in Translation

What worth holds the heart

Poet

Qateel Shifai

Pen Name(s)

Qateel

Translation in Rhyme

What worth holds the heart that prays not for union’s delight,
God forbid, living on with your absence in sight.
 
Your love, an enduring companion through life’s fleeting flight,
Yet life, unfulfilled, would dim its own light.
 
Though separation spares not a mortal’s breath,
Pray, Lord, keep us bound, never tempting death’s theft.
 
Love whispers prayers for the wounded heart’s refrain,
Silent in pain, yet bearing love’s lasting stain.
 
Destiny dims the moon of love’s ardent glow,
Eyes bereft of light, lost in a shadowed flow.
 
The world tests him, his endurance they strain,
Qateel, silent in suffering, would forfeit life’s chain.
 

Translation in Prose

What good is the heart that does not pray for union,
God forbid I continue living after having forgotten you.
 
Your love will continue to stay with me through the passage of life,
It’s another thing if my life fails to keep its promise.1
 
It’s true that one does not die from separation,
But Lord, let not one separate from another.
 
We have heard that love offers prayers for one,
Who bears scars on the heart but doesn’t complain.
 
My destiny has extinguished the moon of my love,
The light of my eyes shines no more.
 
The world has thoroughly seen and tested him, 
Qateel would give up his life before uttering complaint.
   

Transliteration

 vo dil hī kyā tere milne kī jo duā na kare 
maiñ tujh ko bhūl ke zindā rahūñ Khudā na kare 
 
rahegā sāth terā pyār zindagī ban kar 
ye aur bāt merī zindagī vafā na kare 
 
ye thīk hai nahīñ martā koī judā.ī meñ 
ḳhudā kisī ko kisī se magar judā na kare 
 
sunā hai us ko mohabbat duā.eñ detī hai 
jo dil pe chot tho khā.e magar gila na kare 
 
agar vafā pe bharosā rahe na duniyā ko 
to koī shakhs mohabbat kā hausla na kare 
 
bujhā diyā hai nasīboñ ne mere pyar kā chānd 
koī diyā merī palkoñ pe ab jalā na kare 
 
zamāna dekh chukā hai parakh chukā hai ise 
‘qatīl’ jaan se jā.e par iltijā na kare 

Your letter

Poet

Dagh Dehlvi

Pen Name(s)

Dagh

Translation in Rhyme

Your letter brought forth a mention anew, who dared intrude?
If not my rival’s hand, then whose, in truth?
 
After my fate’s decree, she queries, her tone tight-spun,
Whose deed is this? Whose mischief, begun?
 
“I’ll be loyal, I’ll commit,” pled the earnest mask,
Remember whose vows once danced, a hopeful task?
 
That heart’s absence leaves an ache, an echo that claimed,
Who now resides where once love’s fire flamed?
 
No clamor arose, no queries flew in the air’s motion,
Whose praises filled your gathering’s devotion?
 
Silent fell the crowd, with a collective sigh’s hum,
Tell me, whose name lingered, incomplete, mum?
 
You tore my words, a gesture curt, unheeding,
Yet whose message captured your mind’s heeding?
 
Why hold back fury, why let the enemy roam?
For whose sake did you temper the storm?
 
That chapter closed, whom should I trust, confide?
Whose memory lingers, refusing to hide?
 
Pressured to indulge, the admonisher’s beckoning brink,
Whose desire mingled with mine to share a drink?
 
Despite admirers aplenty, whose dreams did shatter?
Whose presence crumbled before your gaze, tattered?
 
Who accused me of faithlessness, with a venomous tone?
Whose misguided notion, whose folly, was it known?
 
From such love untamed, tis said stems fame,
If love like others, who’d recall any name?
 
She proclaims my disloyalty, Dagh’s infamous decree,
Ask her: whose captive was he, forever not free?
 

Translation in Prose

Your letter contained a new mention; who was it?
If it wasn’t my rival, then who was it?
 
After carrying out my execution, she ask everyone,
Whose doing is this? Who was this?
 
I’ll be faithful, will commit, do whatever you ask,
Do you even recall who said these words?
 
That heartless one remains in the heart no more, yet the pain remains,
Who has found a home, for whom the home was built?
 
There was no inquiry there, no cry, no commotion,
For whom was the adoration in your assembly yesterday?
 
The whole assembly became silent upon hearing,
Say, whose unfinished mention was that?
 
You ripped my letter into pieces, without even reading it,
Yet whose message did you listen with all attentiveness?
 
Why not raise hell in the vicinity of the enemy?
In whose consideration were you holding back in time?
 
That time is long gone, whom should I confide in?
Whose thoughts consumed my mind day and night?
 
The insistence of the admonisher lead me to drink,
Whose intention was it to drink together?
 
Even though you had many admirers,
Whose being was it that was ruined in front of you?
 
Who was it that found you unfaithful,
Whose naive notion, whose madness was this?
 
It is through these traits that one becomes famous,
If this love had been like any other, who would find fame?
 
She tells others how unfaithful was Dagh,
Someone ask her: whose slave was he?
   

Transliteration

tumhāre khat meṇ nayā ik salām kis kā thā 
na thā raqīb to ākhir vo nām kis kā thā 
 
vo qatl kar ke mujhe har kisī se pūchte haiṇ 
ye kām kis ne kiyā hai ye kām kis kā thā 
 
vafā kareṇge nibāheṇge bāt māneṇge 
tumheṇ bhī yād hai kuch ye kalām kis kā thā 
 
rahā nā dil meṇ vo bedard aur dard rahā 
muqīm kaun huā hai maqām kis kā thā 
 
na pūch-gach thī kisī kī vahāṇ nā āo-bhagat 
tumhārī bazm meṇ kal ehtimām kis kā thā 
 
tamām bazm jise sun ke reh ga.ī mushtāq 
kaho vo tazkira-e-nā-tamām kis kā thā 
 
hamāre khat ke tho purze kiye padhā bhī nahīṇ 
sunā jo tū ne ba-dil vo payām kis kā thā 
 
uthā.ī kyūṇ na qayāmat adū ke kūche meṇ 
lihāz āp ko vaqt-e-ḳhirām kis kā thā 
 
guzar gayā vo zamāna kahūṇ to kis se kahūṇ 
khayāl dil ko mere subh o shām kis kā thā 
 
hameṇ tho hazrat-e-vā.iz kī zid ne pilvā.ī 
yahāṇ irāda-e-sharb-e-mudām kis kā thā 
 
agarche dekhne vāle tere hazāroṇ thay 
tabāh-hāl bohut zer-e-bām kis kā thā 
 
vo kaun thā ki tumheṇ jis ne bevafā jānā 
khayāl-e-khām ye saudā-e-ḳhām kis kā thā 
 
inhīṇ sifāt se hotā hai ādmī mash.hūr 
jo lutf aam vo karte ye nām kis kā thā 
 
har ik se kahte haiṇ kyā Dāġh bevafā niklā 
ye pūche un se koī vo ġhulām kis kā thā 
 

In heaven and earth

Poet

Khwaja Mir Dard

Pen Name(s)

Dard

Translation in Rhyme

In heaven and earth so far and so wide,
Your essence so vast, only my heart can abide.
 
Unity, untouched by dual strife,
No mirror reflects You larger than life.
 
In prostration’s immortal embrace,
I’m lifted not by worldly trace.
 
Oh courier, this task not thine,
The heart alone can bear His sign.
 
Oblivious soul, remember the Lord,
Forget if you must, your own accord.
 
Oh Lord, what magic is that the comprehension,
Runs away from itself in without extension.
 
Debate may win, yet what’s the gain,
This fire quenched not by water’s rain.
 
Intoxicated in love, comes forth on doomsday,
Dard driven by desire, and no other way.
 

Translation in Prose

The heavens and the earth could not encompass Your Being,
It is only in my heart, wherein You can find abode.1
 
Your Unity cannot be subjected to criticism of duality,
How dare any mirror show Your countenance.2
 
I am in such immortal state of prostration,
None can lift me akin to footsteps on track.3
 
Courier, this is not your duty, go your own way,
No one can deliver His message other than the heart itself.4
 
Oblivious one, do not forget to remember the Merciful Lord,
Forget your own self if you must.5
 
Oh Lord, what magic is this that comprehension and wisdom herein,
Run from themselves a thousand times but cannot escape.6
 
Even if you win the argument through debate, what do you gain,
This is not the fire that can be extinguished through water.7
 
One intoxicated with love is a drunkard who on doomsday,
Oh Dard desire brings, the self cannot bring.8
   

Transliteration

arz-o-samā kahāṇ terī vus.at ko pā sake,
merā hī dil hai vo ki jahāṇ tū samā sake.
 
vahdat meṇ terī harf duī kā na ā sake,
ā.īna kyā majāl tujhe muṇ dikhā sake.
 
maiṇ vo fatāda hūṇ ke baġhair-az-fanā mujhe,
naqsh-e-qadam kī tarah na koī uthā sake.
 
qāsid nahīṇ ye kām terā apnī rāh le,
us kā payām dil ke sivā kaun lā sake.
 
ghāfil ḳhudā kī yād pe mat bhūl zīnhār,
apne ta.īṇ bhulā de agar tū bhulā sake.
 
yā rab ye kyā talism hai idrāk-o-fahm yaaṇ,
dauḍe hazār aap se bāhar na jā sake.
 
go bahs kar ke baat bhi Thā.ī bhī kyā husūl,
dil se uThā ġhilāf agar thū uThā sake.
 
itfā-e-nār-e-ishq na ho āb-e-ashk se,
ye aag vo nahīñ jise pānī bujhā sake.
 
mast-e-sharāb-e-ishq vo be-khud hai jis ko hashr,
ai ‘dard’ chāhe lā.e ba-ḳhud par na lā sake.
 

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  • Wanderer on If you ever think of me: “Wow, beautiful poetry. Amazing imagination by the poet expressed through beautiful words.Oct 23, 00:17
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