عجب ایک ہم نے ہُنر کیا، وہ ہُنر بطورِ دِگر کیا
Ajab aik hum ne hunar kiya, woh hunar bator-e-digar kiya
کہ سفر تھا دُور و دراز کا، سو ہم آکے خود میں ٹھہر رہے
Ke safar tha door o daraaz ka, so hum aake khud mein thehar rahe
— جونؔ ایلیا
— Jaun Elia
Parkhna mat, parakhne mein koi apna nahin rehta
پرکھنا مت، پرکھنے میں کوئی اپنا نہیں رہتا
Kisi bhi aaine mein der tak chehra nahin rehta
کسی بھی آئینے میں دیر تک چہرہ نہیں رہتا
Baday logon se milne mein hamesha faasla rakhna
بڑے لوگوں سے ملنے میں ہمیشہ فاصلہ رکھنا
Jahan darya samundar se mila, darya nahin rehta
جہاں دریا سمندر سے ملا، دریا نہیں رہتا
بشیر بدر

Eagle Poem
To pray you open your whole self
To sky, to earth, to sun, to moon
To one whole voice that is you.
And know there is more
That you can’t see, can’t hear;
Can’t know except in moments
Steadily growing, and in languages
That aren’t always sound but other
Circles of motion.
Like eagle that Sunday morning
Over Salt River. Circled in blue sky
In wind, swept our hearts clean
With sacred wings.
We see you, see ourselves and know
That we must take the utmost care
And kindness in all things.
Breathe in, knowing we are made of
All this, and breathe, knowing
We are truly blessed because we
Were born, and die soon within a
True circle of motion,
Like eagle rounding out the morning
Inside us.
We pray that it will be done
In beauty.
In beauty.
By Joy Harjo
I’m drenched
in the flood
which has yet to come
I’m tied up
in the prison
which has yet to exist
Not having played
the game of chess
I’m already the checkmate
Not having tasted
a single cup of your wine
I’m already drunk
Not having entered
the battlefield
I’m already wounded and slain
I no longer
know the difference
between image and reality
Like the shadow
I am
And
I am not
Translated by: Fereydoun Kia
Mewlana Jalaluddin Rumi
I am a sculptor, a molder of form.
In every moment I shape an idol.
But then, in front of you, I melt them down
I can rouse a hundred forms
and fill them with spirit,
but when I look into your face,
I want to throw them in the fire.
My souls spills into yours and is blended.
Because my soul has absorbed your fragrance,
I cherish it.
Every drop of blood I spill
informs the earth,
I merge with my Beloved
when I participate in love.
In this house of mud and water,
my heart has fallen to ruins.
Enter this house, my Love, or let me leave.
Mewlana Jalaluddin Rumi
Crabbed Age and Youth
Cannot live together:
Youth is full of pleasance,
Age is full of care;
Youth like summer morn,
Age like winter weather;
Youth like summer brave,
Age like winter bare:
Youth is full of sports,
Age’s breath is short,
Youth is nimble, Age is lame:
Youth is hot and bold,
Age is weak and cold,
Youth is wild, and Age is tame:-
Age, I do abhor thee;
Youth, I do adore thee;
O! my Love, my Love is young!
Age, I do defy theeO sweet shepherd, hie thee,
For methinks thou stay’st too long
William Shakespeare
All the world’s a stage,
And all the men and women merely players;
They have their exits and their entrances,
And one man in his time plays many parts,
His acts being seven ages. At first, the infant,
Mewling and puking in the nurse’s arms.
Then the whining schoolboy, with his satchel
And shining morning face, creeping like snail
Unwillingly to school. And then the lover,
Sighing like furnace, with a woeful ballad
Made to his mistress’ eyebrow. Then a soldier,
Full of strange oaths and bearded like the pard,
Jealous in honor, sudden and quick in quarrel,
Seeking the bubble reputation
Even in the cannon’s mouth. And then the justice,
In fair round belly with good capon lined,
With eyes severe and beard of formal cut,
Full of wise saws and modern instances;
And so he plays his part. The sixth age shifts
Into the lean and slippered pantaloon,
With spectacles on nose and pouch on side;
His youthful hose, well saved, a world too wide
For his shrunk shank, and his big manly voice,
Turning again toward childish treble, pipes
And whistles in his sound. Last scene of all,
That ends this strange eventful history,
Is second childishness and mere oblivion,
Sans teeth, sans eyes, sans taste, sans everything.
William Shakespeare
Fear no more the heat o’ the sun;
Nor the furious winter’s rages,
Thou thy worldly task hast done,
Home art gone, and ta’en thy wages;
Golden lads and girls all must,
As chimney sweepers come to dust.
Fear no more the frown of the great,
Thou art past the tyrant’s stroke:
Care no more to clothe and eat;
To thee the reed is as the oak:
The sceptre, learning, physic, must
All follow this, and come to dust.
Fear no more the lightning-flash,
Nor the all-dread thunder-stone;
Fear not slander, censure rash;
Thou hast finished joy and moan;
All lovers young, all lovers must
Consign to thee, and come to dust.
No exorciser harm thee!
Nor no witchcraft charm thee!
Ghost unlaid forbear thee!
Nothing ill come near thee!
Quiet consummation have;
And renowned be thy grave!
William Shakespeare
عجیب کرب میں گزری، جہاں جہاں گزری
Ajeeb karb mein guzri, jahan jahan guzri
اگرچہ چاہنے والوں کے درمیاں گذری
Agarche chaahne walon ke darmiyan guzri
تمام عمر جلاتے رہے چراغِ امید
Tamam umr jalaate rahe chiraagh-e-umeed
تمام عمر امیدوں کے درمیاں گزری
Tamam umr umeedon ke darmiyan guzri
گزری گئی جو ترے ساتھ یادگار رہی
Guzri gayi jo tere saath yaadgaar rahi
ترے بغیر جو گذری، وبالِ جاں گزری
Tere baghair jo guzri, wabaal-e-jaan guzri
مجھے سکون میّسر نہیں تو کیا غم ہے
Mujhe sukoon mayassar nahin to kya gham hai
گلوں کی عمر تو کانٹوں کے درمیاں گزری
Gulon ki umr to kaanton ke darmiyan guzri
عجیب چیز ہے محسن یہ گردشِ حالات
Ajeeb cheez hai Mohsin yeh gardish-e-haalaat
کبھی زمِیں تو کبھی مثلِ آسماں گزری
Kabhi zameen to kabhi misl-e-aasmaan guzri
— محسنؔ نقوی
— Mohsin Naqvi
وہ بلائیں تو کیا تماشا ہو
Woh bulaayen to kya tamasha ho
ہم نہ جائیں تو کیا تماشا ہو
Hum na jaayen to kya tamasha ho
یہ کناروں سے کھیلنے والے
Yeh kinaaron se khelnay walay
ڈوب جائیں تو کیا تماشا ہو
Doob jaayen to kya tamasha ho
بندہ پرور جو ہم پہ گزری ہے
Banda parwar jo hum pe guzri hai
ہم بتائیں تو کیا تماشا ہو
Hum bataayen to kya tamasha ho
آج ہم بھی تری وفاؤں پر
Aaj hum bhi teri wafaon par
مسکرائیں تو کیا تماشا ہو
Muskuraayen to kya tamasha ho
تیری صورت جو اتفاق سے ہم
Teri soorat jo ittefaq se hum
بھول جائیں تو کیا تماشا ہو
Bhool jaayen to kya tamasha ho
وقت کی چند ساعتیں ساغر
Waqt ki chand saa’atein Saghar
لوٹ آئیں تو کیا تماشا ہو
Laut aayein to kya tamasha ho
— ساغرؔ صدیقی
— Saghar Siddiqui