چرا لیا ہے تم نے جو دل کو Chura Liya Hai Tumne Jo Dil Ko — You Have Stolen the Heart

Majrooh Sultanpuri

1919– 2000

Geet

A man is reporting a theft, and the report is a love song. You have stolen my heart, he says, and then the line turns into a request: but do not steal my eyes' composure, my dear. The whole song is that turn, the theft confessed and the thief trusted at the same time, and it was written by Majrooh Sultanpuri for Nasir Hussain's Yaadon Ki Baaraat in 1973.

Four passages ahead. Two of them are promises made to the beloved, and both promises are the same promise in different keys: stay as you are, because everything about me has been handed to you.

01 — chura liya hai tumne jo dil ko

چرا لیا ہے تم نے جو دل کو
نظر نہیں چرانا صنم
بدل کے میری تم زندگانی
کہیں بدل نہ جانا صنم

चुरा लिया है तुमने जो दिल को
नज़र नहीं चुराना सनम
बदलके मेरी तुम ज़िन्दगानी
कहीं बदल ना जाना सनम

chura liya hai tumne jo dil ko
nazar nahin churaana sanam
badal ke meri tum zindagaani
kahin badal na jaana sanam

Since you have stolen my heart, do not steal my composure too, my dear. You have changed my whole life, and I beg you: do not change.

The verse sets the theft and the request in the same breath. Dil churaana, to steal a heart, is the oldest phrase in the language, and the poem extends it by one step: nazar churaana, stealing the composure of the gaze. Sanam, the beloved, is the word for an idol, and it rhymes with the request to stay as she is. The last line is the whole fear of the song in four words: kahiin badal na jaana, do not, somewhere, change.

صنم sanam: an idol; the beloved
زندگانی zindagaani: life, living
نظر چرانا nazar churaana: to avoid meeting somebody's eye

02 — le liya dil, haaye mera dil

لے لیا دل، ہائے میرا دل
ہائے دل لے کر مجھکو نہ بہلانا

ले लिया दिल, हाय मेरा दिल
हाय दिल लेकर मुझको ना बहलाना

le liya dil, haaye mera dil
haaye dil lekar mujhko na bahlaana

You have taken the heart, oh my heart. Oh, having taken the heart, do not amuse me with comfort.

The interlude is the song's admission of defeat. The theft is repeated as a fact, le liya, and the hai, the sigh, lands on the word dil itself. The last line is the sharpest in the song: bahlaana, to soothe or divert, is what you do with a child who has lost something. The lover is asking not to be soothed, because soothing would mean the loss was being managed.

بہلانا bahlaana: to soothe somebody with distractions

03 — bahaar banke aauun kabhi tumhaari duniya mein

بہار بن کے آؤں کبھی تمہاری دنیا میں
گزر نہ جائے یہ دن کہیں اسی تمنا میں
تم میرے ہو، ہو تم میرے ہو
آج تم اتنا وعدہ کرتے جانا

बहार बनके आऊँ कभी तुम्हारी दुनिया में
गुज़र ना जाए ये दिन कहीं इसी तमन्ना में
तुम मेरे हो, हो तुम मेरे हो
आज तुम इतना वादा करते जाना

bahaar banke aauun kabhi tumhaari duniya mein
guzar na jaaye ye din kahin isi tamanna mein
tum mere ho, ho tum mere ho
aaj tum itna vaada karte jaana

Let me come as spring into your world sometime, and let this day not pass away in just wanting it. You are mine, yes, you are mine. Promise me at least this much today, as you go.

The passage offers the beloved a gift and asks for a receipt. Bahar, spring, is the lover's chosen disguise, the season that comes and transforms. The fear that the day will pass in tamanna, in wishing alone, is the song's quiet panic. Then the demand: tum mere ho, say it twice, and promise it as you leave. The song has already accepted the theft of the heart. It is asking now only for the words that make the theft a marriage.

تمنا tamanna: a wish, a longing
وعدہ vaada: a promise

04 — sajaauunga lutkar bhi tere badan ki daali ko

سجاؤں گا لٹ کر بھی تیرے بدن کی ڈالی کو
لہو جگر کا دوں گا حسین لبوں کی لالی کو
ہے وفا کیا اس جہاں کو
ایک دن دکھلا دوں گا میں دیوانہ

सजाऊँगा लुटकर भी तेरे बदन की डाली को
लहू जिगर का दूँगा हसीन लबों की लाली को
है वफ़ा क्या इस जहाँ को
एक दिन दिखला दूँगा मैं दीवाना

sajaauunga lutkar bhi tere badan ki daali ko
lahoo jigar ka duunga haseen labon ki laali ko
hai vafa kya is jahaan ko
ek din dikhla duunga main deewaana

Even ruined, I will dress the branch of your body in flowers. I will give the blood of my liver for the red of your lovely lips. What faithfulness is, this world will learn: one day I, the madman, will show it.

The passage is the song's largest vow, and it is made in the tradition's largest currency. Sajaana, to adorn, is the lover's work, and lutkar bhi, even when robbed, the adornment continues. The blood of the liver, lahoo jigar, is the classical price of beauty, offered for the red of the lips. The last line names the singer deewana, the madman, and promises a demonstration. The world does not know what faithfulness is, and the madman will be the proof, which is the oldest contract in this language between love and madness.

لہو lahoo: blood
جگر jigar: the liver; in Urdu poetry the seat of courage and deep feeling
وفا vafa: faithfulness, keeping your side of a bond
دیوانہ deewaana: one driven out of his senses by love

Reading it whole

The song is built on a single conceit with a twist inside it. The heart is stolen, chura liya, and the song's first answer to that is a warning with a smile: if you have taken my heart, do not take the composure of my gaze as well, because then nothing will be left of me at all. The theft is accepted. Only the second theft is refused.

The middle passage turns the theft into a vow of faithfulness on the thief's side. The lover will come as spring to the beloved's world, and the only fear is that the day will pass waiting. Then the vow is extracted: you are mine, say it, promise it as you go. The song has arranged matters so that the victim is making the thief promise to keep the stolen goods.

The last passage is the largest promise, and it is made in the language of sacrifice. Even ruined, the lover will dress the beloved's branch in flowers, and give the blood of his liver for the red of her lips. The vow to show the world what faithfulness is, ek din dikhla doonga main deewana, is the tradition's promise: the madman will prove what love is, and the proof is the ruin itself.

The recording is Asha Bhosle and Mohammed Rafi over R. D. Burman's setting, and the song has outlived its film, which is the fate of most of Majrooh's best work: the film is remembered for the song, and the song for its own sake.

Recordings

Asha Bhosle and Mohammed Rafi

From Yaadon Ki Baaraat (1973), composed by R. D. Burman.

Text and rights

Devanagari text supplied and checked by a reader who knows the language. The Urdu script and the transliteration follow that reading.

The song is from the film Yaadon Ki Baaraat (1973), music R. D. Burman, lyrics Majrooh Sultanpuri.

Majrooh Sultanpuri died in 2000, so this poem is still in copyright. It is quoted here as the subject of Harf's own criticism: the translation, the reading of each passage and the essay around them are original work written for this page. If you hold the rights and would like something changed, tell us on Instagram.