Ye arzoo thi tujhe --- Haider Ali 'Aatish'

Wonderfully sung by both Amanat Ali and Abida Parveen.

Ye arzoo thi tujhe gul ke rubaroo karte
Hum aur bulbul-e-betaab guftgoo karte

I wished that I could make you face a flower
And then try to talk to the flustered nightingale
[In Urdu poetry, Nightangle and Flower are considered lovers. The writer is saying that She's so beautiful that the nightingale will get confused between Her and the flower and that he'll then enjoy talking to the nightingale.]

*Payaambar na *mayassar hua to khoob hua,
Zaabaan-e-*gair se kya *sharh-e-arzoo karte

It's good if a messenger couldn't be afforded
How would I have conveyed my heart through a stranger

Humesha maine *girebaan ko chaak-chaak kiya,
Tamaam umra *rafookar rahe rafoo karte

I always got my collar torn (metaphor for public disgrace)
And the cloth-menders spent their lives mending it
[Meaning that I got myself in trouble constantly and my friends always tried to salvage the situation]

Meri tarah se *mah-o-*mehr bhi hein aawaara,
Kisi *habeeb ki ye bhi hein justjoo karte

The sun and the moon also loiterers like me.
They are also, like me, trying to find a lover
[The relative rotation of the sun and moon around the earth is compared to loitering]

Jo dekhte teri zanjeer-e-zulf ka aalam
*Aseer hone ki aazaad aarzoo karte

If only they witness the charm of being 'fettered' by Your tresses
The Free would wish to be captured

Na pooch *aalam-e-barghashta-taala'i 'Aatish'
Barasti aag jo *baaraan ki arzoo karte

Don't even ask about the ill fortune of "Aatish"
It rained fire when he wished for rain.
[I think there's wordplay in this couplet. Aatish, the writer's nom de plume means fire (a common metaphor for desires), so he's wishing for rain, meaning fulfilling his desires? But instead, the rain Gods rain fire, giving him more desires. We get reminded of Momin's:
Maanga karenge ab se dua hijr-e-yaar ki,
Aakhir ko dushmani hai asar ko dua ke saath

Henceforth I'll pray for separation from my love,
Prayer and dispensation are deep hostile after all
]

--- Haider Ali 'Aatish'

payaambar : messenger
mayassar : afforded
gair : stranger
sharh : describe
rafookar : one who mends torn clothes
mah : moon
mehr : sun
habeeb : lover
aseer : captives
aalam-e-barghashta-taala'i : caprice of ill fortune
baaraan : rain

Nuktacheen hai

Ghalib in Abida's mesmerizing voice!



*Nuktaacheen hai gham-e-dil usko sunaaye na bane
Kya bane baat jahaan baat banaaye na bane

Ghair firta hai liye yoon tere khat ko ke agar
Koi pooche ki yeh kya hai, to chipaaye na bane

Keh sake kaun ki yeh *jalwaa-garee kiskee hai
Parda choda hai woh usne ke uthaaye na bane

Mein bulaata to hoon usko magar ae jazbaa-e-dil
uspe ban jaaye kuch aisi ke bin aaye na bane

Ishq par zor nahin hai ye wo aatish 'Ghalib'
ke lagaye na lage aur bujhaaye na bane

-Mirza Ghalib

*nuktacheen= critic *jalwa-garee= manifestation

The last but one couplet is just too good, one of the best I have heard :).

एक बस तू ही नहीं

एक बस तू ही नहीं मुझसे खफा हो बैठा
मैंने जो *संग तराशा वो खुदा हो बैठा

उठ के मंजिल ही अगर आए तो शायद कुछ हो
शौक़-ए-मंजिल तो मेरा *आबलापा हो बैठा

*मसलेहत छीन गई *कुव्वत-ए-गुफ्तार मगर
कुछ न कहना ही मेरा मेरी *सदा हो बैठा

शुक्रिया ए मेरे कातिल ए मसीहा मेरे
ज़हर जो तूने दिया था वो दवा हो बैठा

-फरहत शहजाद

संग=Stone
आबलापा= Exhausted/Fatigued
मसलेहत = Prudent Measure
कुव्वत-ए-गुफ्तार= Quvvat means strength and Guftaar means conversation. Hence the meaning.
सदा= Voice

Here the word "Khuda" in the first stanza refers to one of the qualities of God. God is considered to be shapeless in Islam.