Hum par tumhari chaah ka ilzaam hi to hai
by
Faiz Ahmed Faiz
Hum par tumhari chaah ka ilzaam hi to hai
Dushnaam to nahin hai yeh ikraam hi to hai
Karte hain jis pe taan koi jurm to nahin
Shouq-e-fuzool o ulfat-e-naakaam hi to hai
Dil muddai ke harf-e-malaamat se shaad hai
Ai jaan-e-jaan yeh harf tera naam hi to hai
Dil na-ummeed to nahin naakaam hi to hai
Lambi hai gham ki shaam magar shaam hi to hai
Dast-e-falak mein gardish-e-taqdeer to nahin
Dast-e-falak mein gardish-e-ayyaam hi to hai
Aakhir to ik roz karegi nazar wafa
Woh yaar-e-khush-khisaal sar-e-baam hi to hai
Bheegi hai raat Faiz ghazal ibtida kao
Waqt-e-sarod dard ka hangaam hi to hai
It's just that I am accused of being loved by you
translated by
Mustansir Dalvi
It's just that I am accused
of being loved by you
That's hardly a word of abuse,
I am honoured instead.
You reproach me for this,
but it's no crime;
a useless pursuit is all it is,
a love that leads nowhere.
The heart rejoices with every word
of humiliation the appellant makes.
O, love of my life
this word is your name, after all.
This heart does not despair,
it's just a failure, that's all.
The dusk of sorrow stretches endlessly
but it's only dusk, that's all.
The sky does not clutch
at the vagaries of fate;
it holds instead possibilities
of fortune in its hand.
A day will surely come when
You will glance at me with favour.
Look! My well-favoured beloved
has just stepped out onto the terrace.
Start your ghazal, Faiz,
it’s a stormy night.
Pluck the sarod’s strings,
the season of heartache is upon us.
This ghazal was written by Faiz Ahmed Faiz on 9th March 1954 in Rawalpindi's Montgomery prison
Translation and Transliteration © Mustansir Dalvi, 2022, All rights reserved.