Faiz - Mujh se pehlii sii mohabbat

One of the nicest of Faiz's nazms, full of his typically intense imagery... and his trademark air of wizened melancholy...

 

Mujh se pehlii sii muhabbat mere mahboob na maang
mai.n ne samjhaa thaa ki tuu hai to darakshaa.n hai hayaat
teraa gham hai to gham-e-dahar kaa jhagDaa kyaa hai
terii suurat se hai aalam mei.n bahaaro.n ko sabaat
terii aankho.n ke sivaa duniyaa mei.n rakhaa kyaa hai
tuu jo mil jaaye to taqdiir niguu.n ho jaaye
yuu.n na thaa, mai.n ne faqat chaahaa thaa yuu.n ho jaaye


aur bhii dukh hai.n jamaane mei.n muhabbat ke sivaa
raahate.n aur bhii hai.n vasl kii raahat ke sivaa
mujh se pehlii sii muhabbat mere mahboob na maang

anginat sadiyo.n ke taariiq bahimaan tilism
resham-o-atlaas-o-kamkhvaab mei.n bunwaaye hue
jaa-ba-jaa bikte hue kuucha-o-baazaar mei.n jism
khaak mei.n lithDe hue khoon mei.n nahlaaye hue
jism nikle hue amraaz ke tannuuro.n se
piip bahtii huii galte hue naasuuro.n se
lauT jaatii hai udhar ko bhii nazar kyaa kiije
ab bhii dilkash hai teraa husn magar kyaa kiije
aur bhii dukh hai.n zamaane mei.n muhabbat ke sivaa
raahate.n aur bhii hai.n vasl kii raahat ke sivaa
mujh se pehlii sii muhabbat mere mahboob na maang


मुझ से पहली सी मोहब्बत मेरे महबूब ना माँग

मैं ने समझा था कि तू है तो दरक्षां है हयात
तेरा गम हैं तो गम-ए-दहर का झगड़ा क्या है
तेरी सूरत से है आलम मे बहारों को सबात
तेरी आंखों के सिवा दुनिया में रखा क्या है
तू जो मिल जाये तो तकदीर निगूं हो जाये
यूँ ना था, मैं ने फकत चाहा था यूँ हो जाये
और भी दुःख हैं ज़माने मे मोहब्बत के सिवा
राहतें और भी हैं वस्ल की राहत के सिवा

मुझ से पहली सी मोहब्बत मेरे महबूब ना माँग

अनगिनत सदियों के तारीक़ बहीमाना तलिस्म
रेशम-ओ-अतलस-ओ-कम्ख्वाब में बुनवाये हुये
जा-ब-जा बिकते हुए कूचा-ओ-बाज़ार में जिस्म
ख़ाक में लिथड़े हुए, ख़ून में नहलाये हुए
जिस्म निकले हुए अमराज़ के तन्नूरों से
पीप बहती हुई गलते हुए नासूरों से
लौट जाती है उधर को भी नज़र क्या कीजे
अब भी दिलकश है तेरा हुस्न मगर क्या कीजे
और भी दुःख हैं ज़माने में मोहब्बत के सिवा
राहते और भी हैं वस्ल की राहत के सिवा

मुझ से पहली सी मोहब्बत मेरे महबूब ना माँग

"Ask me not, my love, for the passions of yore...

I had believed that with you, the world (would be) luminous;
(that) with the pain of your love, there (would be) no issue with worldly sorrows;
(that) your beauty (would) lend permanence to the spring;
(that) save your eyes, nothing else matters in the world;
(that) if I could win you, destiny (itself) would supplicate before me...

but it wasn't so, i had merely wanted that it be so;
there are other sorrows in the world, beyond those of love;
and forms of relief other than the comfort of Union...

Ask me not, my love, for the passions of yore...

The dark, dreadful sorceries of countless ages,
wrapped in silks and satins and brocades.
The bodies being sold, here-and-there, in street markets,
covered in dust, bathed in blood.
The carcasses emerging from the kilns of disease,
(with) puss flowing from suppurating wounds.

The eyes do keep returning to those too, what is one to do?
Your beauty remains enticing even today, but what is one to do?

There are other sorrows in the world, beyond those of love;
and forms of relief other than the comfort of Union

Ask me not, my love, for the passions of yore...

Ostensibly articulating the pain of a sickened and disillusioned Lover who has 'gone off' the idea of love due to the pain and suffering he sees around him, this astonishingly beautiful nazm, which appears towards the middle of Faiz's first book Naqsh-e-Fariyadii, (published in the politically turbulent climate of 1941) actually marks the first instance of the sort of socio-politically 'activist' poetry that was later to become his trademark.