Koo Ba Koo Phail gaye

Parveen Shakir

Qurbatoon mein bhee!!

Ahmed Faraz

A Vanished Friend!

 

 

Around the corner I have a friend,

In this great city that has no end,

Yet the days go by and weeks rush on,

And before I know it, a year is gone.

And I never see my old friends face,

For life is swift and terrible race,

He knows I like him just as well,

As in the days when I rang his bell.

And he rang mine but we were younger then,

And now we are busy, tired men,.

Tired of playing a foolish game,

Tired of trying to make a name.

“Tomorrow” I say! “I will call on him”

Just to show that I am thinking of him

But tomorrow comes and tomorrow goes,

And distance between us grows and grows.

Around the corner, yet miles away

“Here’s a telegram sir,” …….,” “he died today.”

 

And that’s what we get and deserve in the end;

Around the corner…… a vanished friend!

(Charles Hanson Towne)

 

Eternal Zeal

A world within me,
Shining alone,
Happy, glittering and care-free,
Like a child of unbound destiny,
There I ran again,
Or its a pleasure un-named,
No grieves, no sorrows,
It feels lightest like a butterfly,
Or its a joy of eternity!

You are my ecstasy!!

 

I adore you just as I adore art,

shall I compare you with heaven’s drink,

or with the blossoming lavenders of spring?

shall I speak to you in swirling winds,

or whisper in your ears the song of kings?

shall I touch you like morning dew,

or glisten on you like a golden mist?

Shall I become the fragrance you wear,

or the sweetness you bear,

shall I fly with you in an open sky,

or sculpt you  in front of zestful sun?

shall I become a breath you take,

or become a life in your eyes?

shall I become your fantasy,

Or pour in you my ecstasy?

Shall I surrender all the birds and butterflies to you,

So when you walk in my Garden,

These beauties shall follow you!

 

Urdu Poetry

I have a long list of my favorite Urdu poets but few of them stand out because of some particular piece  they had written at some point in their career. Obaidullah Aleem is such a name, He received the highest award in literature in Pakistan (Adamji Prize). But after he converted to Ahhamdiyaat he was forced to resign from his job at radio pakistan. This particular poem is my favorite. There is intense sadness and melancholy in it, describing the pain he had to go through in order to follow his heart and belief.