Sab Siyah Hai

Sab siyah hai
Andar awr har su
Phir ye rawshni kya?

Jo yak-ba-yak
Aankhon ko andhiya jaati hai

Band-o-ruki-o-sadi hui
Ruh ki bu
Naak mein dam

Magar ye door kahin
Se aati hui khushboo si kya?
Jo khule dareechon se ghus kar
Dil-o-dimaagh par chhaa jaati hai

Har usool bik chuka
Har jhoot dauhraaya ja chuka
Phir ye aaeena kya?
Jo har jhoot se pare hai

Ye sargarm daud siyahi ki taraf
Hosh-o-hawaas ghadi-bhar ke mehmaan
Phir ye bharosa kaisa?
Hamesha mein

Kuchh aisi hai ma ka aangan
Go tum bhool chuke ho
Apne ghar ko

Usney tumhein nahin chhoda
Usney tumhein nahin chhoda

Tik-tik

Dil-o-dimaagh maazi mein dooba hua
Kya kuchh ho sakta tha
Log anjaane, raahen andekhi

Awr raat yun tapakti hai
Jaise begunaahon ka lahu
Kaaleen ke chithdon par
Iqbal-e-jurm likh jaaye

Falak bhi koi jawaab nahin rakhta
Magar woh toh ek musaafir hai
Hamesha awr hamesha ke beech

Badalti hawa
Koi raasta nahin dikhaati

Thake hue khushk zard patte girte hain
Gul toh kabke gum hue
Is beraham dhaar ko qurbaan
Mawt awr zindagi ki
Awr oonch se neech ki

Pahaad chuppi liye hue hai
Josh-o-harkat uski fitrat nahin
Muntazir hai us sailaab ka
Jo usey choor kar
Phir zindagi de jaayega

Awr insaan baukhlaaya hua
Kuchh izteraab sa
Apni bekaari-o-behisi se anjaan
Raaz-e-haq ki talaash mein

Jab ke woh jaa-ba-jaa hain maujood
Khush agarche be-wajood

Kya Naam Doon Usey?

Kaainaat ke kisi siyah-tareen kone se aati hai woh
Mere andar hai, ya baahar?

Har ja dikhaaee deta hai
Awr phir bhi, kahin andar

Ek justajoo
Ek ahsaas khaalipan ka
Awr haddon se paar hone ka

Ek dua jo muntazir hai
Agar usey bas dhoond sakoon

Maine uski sada nahin suni
Woh kuchh nahin kahti
Magar ek waada hai
Har raaz kholne ka
Agar main sab kuchh nisaar kar doon

Maine usey dekha nahin
Magar uska chehra hamesha se hai

Hujra-e-zehn mein
Beshumaar dareechon
Ke peechhe kahin

Maine usey mahsoos nahin kiya
Magar uski chhooan hamesha rahi hai
Kabhi maathe par bosa ban kar
Kabhi aariz pe thappad
Phir bhi maathe par bosa

Main nahin jaanta woh kya hai
Main usey Ma ka naam deta hoon

Awr Nadi Daudti Rahi

Abr oonche shajaron ko gale lage hue
jaise koi nayee dulhan
saiyaan jiska jang ki jaanib

Awr nadi daudti rahi

Neem-siyah abr
Se siyah pahaad
Siyah pahaadon
Se siyah-tareen
Oonche shajar

Awr nadi daudti rahi

Abr ki dukthar
Barsaat ke daane
Bosa-e-lab patton ki jaanib

Ek taraf qaasid baadal

Kuchh yun hai junoon-e-ishq
Betaab-o-bewaqt

Awr nadi daudti rahi

Adh-pinhaan teen-chauthaai mahtaab
Paudi dar paudi aabla-e-pa
Chadhta hai pahaad

Fakir qaainaat ka
Jiske zaanu bol gaye hain

Awr nadi daudti rahi

Bhed awr unka maalik
Maano bin soche chadhte hain
Jaise kisi atfaal ke bhooke haath
Ma ki chhaati par

Haajit-mandi
Dushman-e-khauf hai

Awr nadi daudti rahi

Seb ki fasl qalam hui
Be-baat-o-be-wajha
Be-waqt-o-mausam
Barf ke haathon

Yehi kuchh hai raaz-e-haq
Kisi peer ki zubaani
“before and after follow each other”

Zindagi awr mawt dushman nahin
Bhai hain

Awr nadi daudti rahi

Abr ki dukhtar
Maashooka-e-mahtaab
Sar-zameen ki laadli
Waalida-e-haq

Nadi daudti rahi

Daudti rahi
Daudti rahi
Daudti rahi

Tik-tik

Dil-o-dimaagh maazi mein dooba hua
Kya kuchh ho sakta tha
Log anjaane, raahen andekhi

Awr raat yun tapakti hai
Jaise begunaahon ka lahu
Kaaleen ke chithdon par
Iqbal-e-jurm likh jaaye

Falak bhi koi jawaab nahin rakhta
Magar woh toh ek musaafir hai
Hamesha awr hamesha ke beech

Badalti hawa
Koi raasta nahin dikhaati

Thake hue khushk zard patte girte hain
Gul toh kabke gum hue
Is beraham dhaar ko qurbaan
Mawt awr zindagi ki
Awr oonch se neech ki

Pahaad chuppi liye hue hai
Josh-o-harkat uski fitrat nahin

Muntazir hai us sailaab ka
Jo usey choor kar
Phir zindagi de jaayega

Awr insaan baukhlaaya hua
Kuchh izteraab sa
Apni bekaari-o-behisi se anjaan
Raaz-e-haq ki talaash mein

Jab ke woh jaa-ba-jaa hain maujood
Khush agarche be-wajood

All Is Dark

All is dark
Inside and around:
Then what is this light
That now and then blinds?

The stench
Of closed, corrupt stagnation
Fills the nostrils:
Then what is this far-off fragrance
That rushes the windows
And grasps the senses?

Every principle sold
Each lie many times told:
Then what is this mirror
That rejects ambivalence?

Rushing headlong into oblivion
Awareness, soaked in impermanence:
Then whence this belief
In eternity?

Such is the hold of the Mother:
You might have forgotten
Where you came from
Yet, she has not
Forsaken you

She has not
Forsaken you

Tick-tock

Mind soaked with what might have been:
People unmet, places unseen

While the night drips like innocent blood
Leaving memory-stains on the worn rug

The sky too, holds no answer
But then, it is merely in transfer
Between forever and eternity:
A shifting wind points nowhere

Brittle-white with fatigue the leaves drop
Their flower-sisters have long gone:
Delicate sacrifices to the merciless flow
Of life and death and of high to low

The mountain stands silent, stoic
Frantic movement is beneath it
It waits for the unstoppable force
To atomise it back to life as dust

And yet, Man rushes about, wailing

Failing to grasp his essential irrelevance
Grasping for symbols of permanence
While they are all around him
Content in their fleeting beauty!

What Do I Call It?

It comes from the deepest dark
Is it inside me, or outside?

It seems all around
And yet, deep within

A search
A feeling of emptiness
And of limitlessness, yet

A benediction that awaits
If only I can find it!

I have not heard it
It says nothing
But, promises to reveal all
If only I surrender!

I have not seen it
But, its image has always been
In the chamber
Behind a countless million
Windows in my mind
I have not felt it

But, it has always touched me
Now kissing my forehead
Now slapping my face
(while still kissing my forehead)

I do not know what it is
I choose to name it ‘Mother’




Sifar

And The River Roars On

clouds hug the tall trees tight
as though a new bride
her beloved off to war

and the river roars on

the tall trees darker
than the dark mountains
the mountains darker
than the inky blue-gray skies

and the river roars on

raindrops kiss pining pine leaves
brushing aside messenger clouds
such is true passion:
impatient-persistent

and the river roars on

half-hidden three-quarter moon
climbs up the dark mountain
step by painful step:
the beggar, arthritic slave
of the universe!

and the river roars on

the shepherd and his sheep-babies
climb almost without noticing:
as though an infant’s hungry hands
roaming its mother’s breasts

nourishment is inoculation against fear

and the river roars on

the apple crop was murdered
with no evident rhyme or reason
by snow
out of time and season:

such is the ancient secret
as spoken by the sage
“before and after follow each other”

life and death are not opposites
but brothers

and the river roars on

daughter of the clouds
beloved of the moon
sister of the land
mother of life

the river roars on
the river roars on
the river roars on

on and on and on

Kal Phir Guzri Shab

Shabnam ke moti aankhon se ginte, kal phir guzri shab
Lekar ek ghamon ka lashkar kal phir guzri shab

Tum na aaye lekin, zaalim yaad tumhaari aayee thi
Cheer ke seena meethe khanjar se, kal phir guzri shab

Kahti tha aarzoo-e- dil ke zulfein khole tum aayee ho
Jab siyah-o-mushkbu, chaal nasheeli, kal phir guzri shab

Raah-e-wafa par chalna yaaron, jaano kuchh aasaan nahin
Karvat-karvat ki thokar kha kar, kal phir guzri shab

Kyon rote ho duniya waalon, Sifar ke chal guzarne par?
Phir wohi subha wohi shaam hui, kal phir guzri shab

The Night Once Again Passed

Eyes counting pearls of dew, the night once again passed
With an army of sorrows in tow, the night once again passed

You did not come, but your cruel memory did arrive
Rending the breast with its sweet dagger, the night once again passed

The desire of the heart proclaimed that you have come with hair undone
When black, fragrant, moving intoxicatingly, the night once again passed

Travelling the path of faith, know is not easy friends
Turning from one side to the other in my sleep, the night once again passed

Why do you weep, O people, that Sifar has passed on?
Once again the dawn and the sunset, the night once again passed

Meaningless Words, As If It Were

i crave for a glimpse of her, a drunk for a sip, as if it were
but her hair masks the face, a bodyguard as if it were

who knows but that the Saqi’s merciful gaze might turn away from us
let the wine flow tonight my friends, a tearful eye as if it were

the dawn’s breeze blows fragrant, like the beloved’s scent
the sky too, blushes pink, the rouge on her cheeks as if it were

sleepless i remained through the night of separation, covered in a sheet of despair
come morning, the garden was in tatters too, a scene of desolation as if it were

the street is a well-known one; the faces too, are familiar
then why does fear reside here, the gallows as if it were?

i would certainly have visited the temple, believe you me, Sifar
if deep joy one could obtain there, the beloved’s street as if it were