उल्टी हो गईं

As I walk amidst the dispossessed and the disenfranchised, I often wonder how they see the world around themselves. And even as I bow to their resilience and spirit in face of insurmountable odds, I wonder if, at times, this sentiment does not cross their hearts...


वह क़ातिल है सितमगर है गुनाहगार नहीं है
आईने शहर तेरा ऐतबार नहीं है|

यह दार-ओ-रसन किसके भरोसे रखें सर-ए-दस्त
अब ग़म को मेरी जान ही दरकार नहीं है|

नादारी-ए-क़िस्मत का करें क्या कि मुफ़्लिसी
अब रुक्के-दाखिला-ए-ख़ुल्द यार नहीं है|

वह आके मेरी गोर पे दो बूँद रो ले बस
अब हमसुखन-ओ-हमनवा दिलदार नहीं है|

woh qaatil hai sitamgar hai gunahgaar naheen hai

aayeene shahar teraa aitabaar naheen hai 

yeh daar-o-rasan kis ke bharose rakhein sar-e-dast

ab gham ko meree jaan hee darkaar naheen hai

naadaariye qismat ka karein kyaa ki muflisee

ab rukk-e-dakhilaye-khuld yaar naheen hai

woh aake meree gor pe do boond ro le bas

ab hamsukhan-o-hamnavaa dildaar naheen hai.

He is a murderer and an oppressor, but not a transgressor in your eyes

What trust can I have in you, O law of the land

To what purpose shall I keep the noose and the scaffold at hand

For the sorrow of separation doesn't even want to claim my life now

What extraordinary depths my ill-luck has that the poverty I counted on

Is no longer a passport to the kingdom of heaven

All I ask is that he come and shed two tears at my grave

for no longer do I have any expectation of communion from the beloved