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My Heart, My Traveler with English Translation

Dil e man Musafir e man
Meray dil meray musafir
hua phir sey hukm sadir
k watan badar hon hum tum

dein gali gali sadain
karein rukh nagar nagar ka
ke suraagh koi paein
kisi yar e nama bar ka

har ik ajnabi sey poochein
jo pata tha apney ghar ka
sar e kooey nashenayan
hamein din sey raat karna

kabhi iss sey baat karna
kabhi us sey baat karna
tumhein kya kahoon key kya hey
shab e gham buri balaa hey

hamein yeh bhi tha ghaneemat
jo koi shumaar hota
hamein kya bura tha marna
agar eik baar hota

English translation:

My heart, my fellow traveler
It has been decreed again
That you and I be exiled,
go calling out in every street,
turn to every town.
To search for a clue
of a messenger from our Beloved.
To ask every stranger
the way back to our home.

In this town of unfamiliar folk
we drudge the day into the night
Talk to this stranger at times,
to that one at others.

How can I convey to you, my friend
how horrible is a night of lonliness *
It would suffice to me
if there were just some count
I would gladly welcome death
if it were to come but once.

Notes

Translation by Hamid Rahim Sheikh www.ece.utexas.edu/~sheikh/poetry/faiz

(London 1978. Taken from the collection My Heart, My Traveler )

* adapted from a couplet by Ghalib

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Comments


  • Ahkam Moderators member
    October 26, 2007

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    Dil E Mun Musafar E Mun


    Maray Dill Maray Musafar, Hwa Phir Ye Hukam Sader. Such is the beauty of the poem in Urdu.
    How can I convey to you, my friend?
    How horrible is a night of loneliness
    a very beautiful poem indeed. The last verse is not by Faiz but by Ghalib
    I would gladly welcome death
    if it were to come but once.
    It seems that Faiz has written the poem with reference to this beautiful verse by Ghalib. In Urdu poetry this technique is called Tazmeen. Great Urdu poet Ibne Insha has also used this technique to elaborate the main idea of the beautiful verses by Meer, Called the Godfather of Urdu poetry.

  • kay-tee
    May 14, 2004
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    WOW lyke WOW WOW WOW this is relly good!! lyke be4, ur poems r really neat. u r so ceative and i luv ur style of wriitng. i hope i dont get punbished on ap since i have so many mistakes on my comments. lol and somtimes i writ the same thing becuz i relly mean it. opps. sry. lol plz dont kick me off ap or fine me. anywayz this is relly cool. awesome writ. AWESOME WORK excelltn work. and this is a good poem smile in heaven luv katie

  • Nam
    February 21, 2004
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    In this line: 'how horrible is a night of lonliness *' and an asterick at the end and everything 'lonliness' being 'loneliness'

    Anyways, another better piece written by the author, tho they mostly do sound a like. But, that may just be me.