do not ask me now beloved

Mujh se paih’li si muhabbat meri maihbub na mang
Mujh se paihli si muhabbat meri maihbub na mang
Main ne samjha tha ki tu hai to darakh shan hai hayat
Tira gham hai to gham-e-daihr ka jhagra kya hai
Teri surat se hai alam men baharon ko sabat
Tiri ankhon ke siwa duniya men rakha kya hai

Tu jo mil jae to taqdir nigun ho jae
Yun na tha, main ne faqat chaha tha yun ho jae
Awr bhi dukh hai zamane men muhabbat je siwa
Rahaten awr bhi hain wasl ki rahat ke siwa

Anginat sadiyon ke tarik bihimana tilism
Resham-o-atlas-o-kamkhwab men bunwae hue
Jas-ba-ja bikte hue kucha-o-bazar men jism
Khak men lithre hue, khun men nahan hue

Don’t ask me now, beloved
Don’t ask me now, Beloved, for that love of other days
When I thought since you were, life would always scintillate
That love’s pain being mine, the world’s pain I would despise.
That your beauty lastingness to the spring would donate,
that nothing in the world was of worth but your eyes;
were you to be mine, fate would bow before me.

It was not so; it was only my wish that it were so;
other pains exist than those that love brings,
other joys than those of lovers’ mingling.
Dark fearful talismans, come down the centuries,
woven in silk and damask and cloth of gold;
Bodies that everywhere in streets are sold
Covered with dust, all their wounds bleeding.

Bodies that have passed through the furnace of ills
With putrid ulcers which their humours spill.
How can I turn my eyes sometimes that way?
Your beauty is still ravishing, what can I say?
Other pains exist than those that love brings,
Other joys than those of lovers mingling.
Don’t ask me, now, beloved, for that love of other days.

Faiz Ahmed Faiz (1911-1984) was a Pakistani Poet. He used ancient forms of poetry like qawwali and geet to convey his message of humanism, with reference to caste, color and creed. He was often imprisoned in Pakistan for his views, and spent many years in exile. He is credited with inventing the modern urdu love poetry.

From 100 Poems by Faiz Ahmed Faiz translated from the original urdu by Sarvat Rahman