mere dil mere musafir
hua phir se hukm sadir
ke vatan badar hon hum tum
dein gali gali sadayen
karen rukh nagar nagar ka
ke surag koi payen
kisi yar-e-namabar ka
har ek ajnabi se poochen
jo pata tha apne ghar ka
sar-e-ku-e-nashanayan
hamein din se rat karna
kabhi is se bat karna
kabhi us se bat karna
tumhein kya kahun ke kya hai
shab-e-gham buri bala hai
hamein ye bhi tha ganimat
jo koi shumar hota
hamein kya bura tha marna
agar ek bar hota

 

O Traveller! My Heart!
Translation by A K Mota
___________________________________________________________________________________

The decree was passed for us,
To leave this beloved land,
To Cry and weep in distant lands.
Sitting in alien cities,
We search for the postman
to bring us letters from our land.
From every stranger we seek
The fate of our left over dwellings.
In this land of unknown people
We have been ordained to spend our days and nights.
O Heart! Pass this time by talking to this or that fellow.
Do not ask us the pangs and agony of
This terrible evening of sorrow.
Even this living was better Heart!
If only we were made to know for how many days more.
For us even death was not unwelcome
Should it visit once only?
O Traveller! My Heart!

My Heart, My Traveler
Translation by Hamid Rahim Sheikh
___________________________________________________________________________________

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 loneliness
It would suffice to me
if there were just some count
I would gladly welcome death
if it were to come but once.