Sometimes the quarter of a century which is all of my life that I have lived thus far seems to have been so.
Woh log bahut khush qismat thay
Jo ishq ko kaam samajhtey thay
Ya kaam sey aashqui kartey thay
Hum jeetey jee masroof rahey
Kuchh ishq kiya kuchh kaam kiya
Kaam ishq key aarhey aata raha
Aur ishq sey kaam ulajhta raha
Phir aakhir tang aakar humney
Donon ko adhoora chhorh diya.
- Faiz
A translation (relying mostly on the translation provided in Shiv K. Kumar's The Best of Faiz):
Those people were fortunate
Who considered love as their business
or were in love with their work.
I remained busy all my life
There was some love, there was some work
Work came in the way of love,
and love impeded work
Then tired of it all,
I gave up on both half done.
Woh log bahut khush qismat thay
Jo ishq ko kaam samajhtey thay
Ya kaam sey aashqui kartey thay
Hum jeetey jee masroof rahey
Kuchh ishq kiya kuchh kaam kiya
Kaam ishq key aarhey aata raha
Aur ishq sey kaam ulajhta raha
Phir aakhir tang aakar humney
Donon ko adhoora chhorh diya.
- Faiz
A translation (relying mostly on the translation provided in Shiv K. Kumar's The Best of Faiz):
Those people were fortunate
Who considered love as their business
or were in love with their work.
I remained busy all my life
There was some love, there was some work
Work came in the way of love,
and love impeded work
Then tired of it all,
I gave up on both half done.
better than me, no? first I thought love was my work, then I fell in love with work, now I do neither with any efficacy. :)
ReplyDelete