Poetic resistance to Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto’s murder
As a young student I obtained a tattered copy of ‘Khushboo ki Shahadat’ from an old bookstall in Lahore’s Urdu bazaar. This was the…
Would you permit me?
Nizar Qabbani In a country where thinkers are assassinated, and writers are considered infidels and books are burnt, in societies that refuse the other,…
Taj Mahal – a poem by Sahir Ludhianvi (reposted)
Today is Sahir Ludhianvi’s death anniversary. Am reposting this poem for the readers. Sahir Ludhianvi’s immortal poem Taj Mahal has always fascinated me. It…
‘1978’
Grief’s circles extend and extend. The country teeters like a slowing top. The way is down, down. I cannot see the miracle that will…
Qasmi – Urdu literature mourns a giant
Ahmed Nadeem Qasmi (1916-2006) Ab aik baar to qudrat javaabdeh thehre hazaar baar ham insaan aazmaaye gaye Now Nature must be held accountable at…
As soon as you clear your hearing
The voice of a saviour will shortly be heard as soon as you clear your hearing don’t drink now this polluted water the elixir…
Two poems from the work of Faiz Ahmed Faiz
Faiz Ahmed Faiz (1911-1984) was a prominent revolutionary Indo-Pakistani poet. In a brief career with the British Indian Army he was promoted to the…
One live flame
“if your beloved has the life of a fire step in now and burn along in a night full of suffering and darkness be…
Addicted to subtle discussions
We’re quite addicted to subtle discussions; we’re very fond of solving problems. So that we may tie knots and then undo them, we constantly…
All I have to offer…
Rest your cheek, for a moment, on this drunken cheek. Let me forget the war and cruelty inside myself. I hold these silver coins…
Each Note
Advice doesn’t help lovers! They’re not the kind of mountain stream you can build a dam across. An intellectual doesn’t know what the drunk…
“What do you really possess?”
What do you really possess, and what have you gained? What pearls have you brought up from the depth of the sea? On the…
Khalifa Abdul Hakim (1896-1959)
For years I had been planning to write about Dr Khalifa Abdul Hakim (1896-1959), the great philosopher and intellectual of the twentieth century. Last…
I am a child of love
I profess the religion of love, Love is my religion and my faith. My mother is love My father is love My prophet is…
Sahir Ludhianvi’s poem composed on Ghalib’s centenary celebrations
Sahir Ludhianvi laments the way Urdu was treated by Indian nation-state as it became alien overnight. Ikees baras guzray aazadi-i-kaamil ko Tab ja…
Abr mi barad-o man shovm-e az yar-e judaa (The cloud weeps…)
Amir Khusrau’s lofty couplet Abr mi barad-o man shovm-e az yar-e judaa Choon kunam dil becheneen roz zedildar judaa. Abr baraan wa man-o yar…
Who am I,my friend
How does a part of the world leave the world? How can wetness leave water? Don’t try to put out a fire by throwing…
Any Chance Meeting
In every gathering, in any chance meeting on the street, there is a shine, an elegance rising up. Today, I recognized that that jewel-like…
When the heart becomes whole
When the heart becomes whole, it will know the flavors of falsehood and truth. When Adam’s greed for the forbidden fruit increased, it robbed…
Video| On Kabir, Bulleh Shah and Lalon Shah
Not a great recording of my talk at Kuch Khaas, Islamabad. I read some of my papers – written by me on three of…