Thy Forgiveness

My sins did not find refuge in the whole world,
the only place where I found shelter - O my Lord! - was Thy forgiveness.

Na kaheen jahaan mein amaan mili,
jo amaan mili to kahaan mili,
Meray jurm-i khana kharab ko teray afvi banda nawaz mein.

Iqbal

Love as an essential ingredient for development of the self.
Love is the foundation of life,
Love is the flashing sword of death.
The hardest rocks are shivered by love’s glance.”

I am a lover and I deal in Love - Rehman Baba

Sow flowers,
so your surroundings become a garden.
Don’t sow thorns; for they will prick your feet.
We are all one body.
Whoever tortures another, wounds himself.

Life Brought Me So I Came (Deewan -e- ZAUK)

Life brought me so I came; death takes me away so I go
I came not on my own nor will I go with my will

There may be a few gamblers as bad as I am
Whatever move I made it proved to be very bad

It’s better that one should not get hooked to the charms of the world
However, what can one do when nothing can be accomplished without getting involved

Who has come to the rescue of someone, who’s about to leave this world!
You too keep moving till you can move on

O Zauq! I’m leaving this garden with a pinning for fresh air
Why should I care now whether zephyr blows or not!


aai Hayaat to aaye qaza le chali chaley
Apni Khushi se na aaye na apni khushi chaley

Kam hongey is bisaat par hum aisey bad qumaar
Jo chaal hum chaley woh nihayat buri chaley

Behtar to hai yehi ke na duniya se dil lagey
Par kya karein jo kaam na be dil-lagi chaley

Duniya ne kis ka raah-e-fanaa mein diya hai saath
tum bhi chaley chalo yunhi jab tak chali chaley

Jaatey Hawaa-e-shauq mein hain is chaman se Zauq
Apni balaa se Baad-e-Saba ab kabhi chaley

Faiz Ahmed Faiz

Ask me not, my love.... :
Ask me not, my love, for the love of former days,
I had thought, with you around life 'uld be dazzling bright,
With your griefs to fill my heart, other griefs would vaporize,
Your beauty keeps the spring alive,
The world contains naught else but your starry eyes,
To own you is to own the fortune's richest prize.

It wasn't so; I simply wished it could be so!
Besides the griefs of love, there're other griefs in life,
Besides the joy of union there're other delights.
The dark, devilish spells, o'er several centuries cast,
Woven in silks and satins, in brocade finely wrought;
Human bodies for sale in every street and shop,
Bodies bathed in blood, splashed with gory spots,
I cannot help but see them all.

Your beauty still attracts the heart; but what to do?
There are other griefs in life,
Besides the joy of union, there're other delights.

Faiz is the best that Pakistan ever produced. His poetry is revolutionary yet has the essence of romanticism. One actually feels his grief and his longing for the union with the beloved. This has a double meaning: union with the divine as well as the ephemeral earthly love. FBJ

Mirza Assad ullah Ghalib

Come, so we may change
The laws of the heavens;
Let us alter the decree of destiny
By the circulation of the heavy goblet.

Let us enjoy the spectacle
With our eyes and heart;
With the humility of our heart and soul.
Let us transform our loss.

We will sit in the corner
And open the door;
We will turn the guard into the street
And throw him on the footpath.

If there is any seizing and holding
By the officer of the police, -we care not;
If we receive a present from the king
We shall return it to him.

If the sage speaks the same language
As ours, we would not talk to him;
If Khalil is our guest,
We would ask him to go away.

We would dismiss the boon companion,
The minstrel and the saqi from the assembly,
And turnout the experienced lady
Who manages our affairs?

Sometimes, with a show of courtesy
We will mingle our speech with grace,
And sometimes while snatching a kiss
We would turn our tongue in the mouth.

With the ardour of our breast
We will stop the breath of morning;
We will safeguard .the world from the affliction
Of the heat of the day.