Aaj ki raat to khushbu ka safar lagti hai.. 1

Posted August 5, 2008

Sometimes, words really do weave magic and are enough to transform how you were feeling upto a point completely. Here’s a sweet romantic Urdu poem (Gazhal) by Jan Nissar Akhtar -

Mauj-e-gul, mauj-e-sabaa, mauj-e-sahar lagti hai
sar se paoon tak vo samaan hai ki nazar lagti hai

Humne har ghum sajdon e jalaaye hain chiraag
ab teri rehguzaar rehguzaar lagti hai

Lamhe lamhe mein basi hai teri yaadon ki mahak,
Aaj ki raat to khushbu ka safar lagti hai…

Jal gaya apna nasheman to koi baat nahi
dekhanaa yeh hai ki ab aag kidhar lagti hai

Saari duniyaa mein Garibon ka lahu bahataa hai
har zamin mujhko mere Khuun se tar lagti hai

Vaqyaa shehar mein kal to koi aisa na hua
yeh to “Akhtar” ke daftar ki Khabar lagti hai

Thanks to this particularly romantic & nostalgic entry “Yaad” on Rachna’s blog Bitter Chocolate for pointing out the above beautiful gazhal.

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If You Forget Me.. by Pablo Neruda 0

Posted July 28, 2008

I have recently started reading good poetry, partly because I was searching for something good to write in my farewell letter, and partly because of some other reasons. So, I came across this beautiful poem recently, and I can only wish that someday I will be able to write something even remotely as good as this -

I want you to know
one thing.

You know how this is:
if I look
at the crystal moon, at the red branch
of the slow autumn at my window,
if I touch
near the fire
the impalpable ash
or the wrinkled body of the log,
everything carries me to you,
as if everything that exists,
aromas, light, metals,
were little boats
that sail
toward those isles of yours that wait for me.

Well, now,
if little by little you stop loving me
I shall stop loving you little by little.

If suddenly
you forget me
do not look for me,
for I shall already have forgotten you.

If you think it long and mad,
the wind of banners
that passes through my life,
and you decide
to leave me at the shore
of the heart where I have roots,
remember
that on that day,
at that hour,
I shall lift my arms
and my roots will set off
to seek another land.

But
if each day,
each hour,
you feel that you are destined for me
with implacable sweetness,
if each day a flower
climbs up to your lips to seek me,
ah my love, ah my own,
in me all that fire is repeated,
in me nothing is extinguished or forgotten,
my love feeds on your love, beloved,
and as long as you live it will be in your arms
without leaving mine.

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I plan to post more of my favourite poems here, so keep watching!