Choosing to burn
My dear heart you’re a fire worshiper an explosive in flame call on the cupbearer to sprinkle the wine on you to soothe your…
Behold the faithfulness of spring
The red rose, which tears its cloak to shreds — I for one know its motive. The willow has let down its branches in…
Ba bazi-ye ishq mi bazam
Ba bazi-ye ishq mi bazam, sar-e bazaar sar bazam Rah-e mardan-e safa sazam, sar-e bazaar sar bazam Ba meydan asb mi tazam, to’i waqif…
Bulleh for our times
By Ali Abbas Mystifying is the turn of time, indeed. Refuted by clerics of his time, the same Bulleh Shah who was refused burial…
Faiz Ahmed Faiz: poet of peace
By Najam Sethi This year, South Asia celebrates the centenary of Faiz Ahmad Faiz, Pakistan’s pre-eminent Urdu poet in the classical tradition of the…
when lilies sprout…
“The Shape of My Tongue” This mirror inside me shows . . . I can’t say what, but I can’t not know! I run…
if you are a man of this life
If you are a man of this life then march on this path like a man or retire and take refuge in your house…
Confused and distraught — Rumi
Rumi interpreted by Coleman Barks derived from Arberry’s translation You bind me, and I tear away in a rage to open out into air,…
The Beloved you’ve lost
…but you’ve chained me down stolen away my heart leaving yourself behind now i’ve lost my way my soul restless and head twisted all…
I am the call of Love — Rumi
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ You whispered in my ears like early spring: “I am the call of Love, can you hear me in the full grasses, in…
The Night Has A Thousand Eyes
The mind has a thousand eyes,
And the heart but one;
Yet the light of a whole life dies
When love is done…
Remembering Parveen Shakir
Naveed Abbas has contributed this beautiful tribute to a great poetess Parveen Shakir who died 16 years ago. Please check her poems and their…
In prayer continually
Rumi, once again The ritual prayer is five times daily, but the guide for lovers is the verse, they who are in prayer continually.*…
Tere mayaar pe poora na utarne wale
Tere mayaar pe poora na utarne wale Mansab e ishq se mazool nahin ho sakte – Perveen Shakir…
Baba Nanak to Baba Farid
This is how the Sufis and mystics of South Asia viewed jihad, peace and the role of religion. Surely our extremists need to read…
Chal Way Bullehya Chal Othay Chaliyay – Let’s go where everyone is blind
Chal Way Bullehya Chal Othay Chaliyay Jithay Saaray Annay Na Koi Saadee Zaat PichHanay Tay Na Koi Saanu Mannay *** O Bulleh Shah let’s…
The Song of the Reed – on Rumi’s birth anniversary
Listen to the song of the reed,
How it wails with the pain of separation…
Ali Sardar Jafri’s amazing poem
14th and 15th August are two dates that evoke mixed feelings for those of us who want a peaceful subcontinent free of jingoism and…
‘My life-achievement’ – karnama e hayat
Mera karnama-e-zindagi
Meri hasraton kay siwa nahi
Yeh kiya nahi, woh hua nahi
Yeh mila nahi, woh raha nahi. :D…
Six Skeletons Sitting on the Sidewalk
Airyn Lentija’s poem entitled Six Skeletons Sitting on the Sidewalk laments the plight of street children in the Philippines and across the globe. On…