01 — mujh se pahli si mohabbat miri mahbub na maang
مجھ سے پہلی سی محبت مری محبوب نہ مانگ
میں نے سمجھا تھا کہ تو ہے تو درخشاں ہے حیات
تیرا غم ہے تو غمِ دہر کا جھگڑا کیا ہے
تیری صورت سے ہے عالم میں بہاروں کو ثبات
मुझ से पहली सी मोहब्बत मिरी महबूब न माँग
मैं ने समझा था कि तू है तो दरख़्शाँ है हयात
तेरा ग़म है तो ग़म-ए-दहर का झगड़ा क्या है
तेरी सूरत से है आलम में बहारों को सबात
mujh se pahli si mohabbat miri mahbub na maang
main ne samjha tha ki tu hai to darakhshan hai hayat
tera gham hai to gham-e-dahr ka jhagda kya hai
teri surat se hai aalam men baharon ko sabat
Don't ask me, my love, for the love I gave you before. I had thought that as long as you existed, life was lit up. That if I had your grief to carry, the world's grief was not worth arguing about. That spring only held its place in the world because your face was in it.
The instruction comes first, and then he spends three lines describing, without a trace of irony, the thing he is withdrawing. The tense gives him away: main ne samjha tha, I had understood. The belief is in the past, but the writing has not cooled down at all. And the third line is the one the rest of the poem will answer, because it says the world's grief was a nuisance he had already settled.
- درخشاں darakhshan
- shining, radiant
- غمِ دہر gham-e-dahr
- the grief of the age; the world's suffering
- ثبات sabat
- permanence, holding steady