(Bal-e-Jibril-185-Book Complete) Qataa - Kal Apne Mureedon Se Kaha Peer-e-Mughan Ne
Stanza
Qeemat Mein Ye Maani Hai Dar-e-Naab Se Deh-Chand
The mentor exhorted his. disciples once:
Listen to my words, in value greater than gold:
Jis Qoum Ke Bache Nahin Khuddar-o-Hunar Mand
The Western wine is poison for the people,
When the offspring knows neither pride nor skill.
(Bal-e-Jibril-184) Qataa - Fitrat Meri Manind-e-Nasim-e-Sehri Hai
Raftar Hai Meri Kabhi Ahista, Kabhi Taez
Karta Hun Sar-e-Khar Ko Souzan Ki Tarah Taez
(Bal-e-Jibril-183) Chionti Aur Auqab
The Ant And The Eagle
The Ant
Tera Maqam Kyun Hai Sitaron Se Bhi Buland?
I am so miserable and forlorn—
Why is your station loftier than the skies?
The Eagle
Main Na Sipihr Ko Nahin Lata Nigah Mein!
You forage about in dusty paths;
The nine heavens are as nothing to me!
(Bal-e-Jibril-182) Sher Aur Khachar
The Lion And The Mule
THE LION
Kon Hain Tere Ab-o-Jad, Kis Qabeele Se Hai Tu?
You are so different and unlike all the other dwellers of the wild and the desert!
Who are your parents and ancestors? and what is your tribe?
THE MULE
Woh Saba Raftar, Shahi Istabal Ki Abru!
Perhaps your highness does not know My uncle—my motherʹs brother:
He gallops like the wind, and is the pride of the royal stable!
Adapted from German
(Bal-e-Jibril-181) Azadi-e-Afkar
Freedom Of Thought
Uss Murghak-e-Bechara Ka Anjaam Hai Uftaad
Falling down is the destiny of that bird
Whose duality of nature renders him unable to fly.
Har Fikar Nahin Tair-e-Firdous Ka Sayyad
Not every heart is an abode to the trusty Gabriel,
Nor can every thought ensnare the Paradise like a bird.
Jis Qoum Ke Afraad Hon Har Band Se Azad
The ecstasy of thought is dangerous in a nation
Where the individuals observe no rule.
Azadi-e-Afkar Hai Iblees Ki Aejaad
Though God‐gifted intellect is the lamp of an age,
The freedom of thought is a Satanic concept.
(Bal-e-Jibril-180) Yourap
Europe
Jin Ki Roobahi Ke Agay Haitch Hai Zor-e-Palang
The Jewish money‐lenders, whose cunning beats the lion’s prowess,
Have been waiting hopefully for long.
Dekhiye Parta Hai Akhir Kis Ki Jholi Mein Frang!
Europe is ready to drop like a ripe fruit,
Let’s see in whose bag it goes.
(Makhooz Az Natche)Adapted from Nietzsche
(Bal-e-Jibril-179) Mahir-e-Nafsiyat
To The Psychologist
Hain Behar-e-Khudi Mein Abhi Poshida Jazeere
Transcend the intellect if you have courage to do so:
There are islands hidden in the ocean of the self as yet.
Jab Tak Tu Iss Zarb-e-Kaleemi Se Na Cheere
The secrets of this silent sea, however, do not yield
Until you cut it with the blow of the Moses’ rod.
(Bal-e-Jibril-178) Haroon Ki Akhari Nasihat
The Last Will Of Harun Rashid
Jaye Ga Kabhi Tu Bhi Issi Rah Guzar Se
Harun said to his son when his hour came,
“You’ll will also pass this way some day.
Lekin Nahin Poshida Musalman Ki Nazar Se
The Angel of Death is an unseen to the infidel,
But it is not hidden from a Muslim’s eyes.”
(Bal-e-Jibril-177) Baghi Mureed
Disciples In Revolt
Ghar Peer Ka Bijli Ke Charaghon Se Hai Roshan
Not a rushlight for us,—in our Master’s
Fine windows electric lights blaze!
Manind-e-Poojte Hain Kaabe Ke Barhman
Town or village, the Muslim’s a duffer—
To his Brahmins like idols he prays.
Har Kharqa-e-Saaloos Ke Andar Hai Mahajan
Not mere gifts—compound interest these saints want,
In each hair‐shirt a usurer’s dressed,
Zaghon Ke Tasarruf Mein Auqabon Ke Nasheman!
Who inherits his seat of authority
Like a crow in the eagle’s old nest.
(Bal-e-Jibril-176) Shaheen
The Eagle
Jahan Rizq Kanaam Hai Aab-o-Dana
I have turned away from that place on earth
Where sustenance takes the form of grain and water.
Azal Se Hai Fitrat Meri Rahbana
The solitude of the wilderness pleases me—
By nature I was always a hermit—
Na Beemari-e-Naghma-e-Ashiqana
No spring breeze, no one plucking roses, no nightingale,
And no sickness of the songs of love!
Adaen Hain In Ki Bohat Dilbarana
One must shun the garden‐dwellers—
They have such seductive charms!
Jawan Mard Ki Zarbat-e-Ghaziyana
The wind of the desert is what gives
The stroke of the brave youth fighting in battle its effect.
Ke Hai Zindagi Baaz Ki Zahidana
I am not hungry for pigeon or dove—
For renunciation is the mark of an eagle’s life.
Lahoo Garam Rakhne Ka Hai Ek Bahana
To swoop, withdraw and swoop again
Is only a pretext to keep up the heat of the blood.
Mera Neelgun Asman Baikarana
East and West ‐these belong to the world of the pheasant,
The blue sky—vast, boundless—is mine!
Ke Shaheen Banata Nahin Ashiyana
I am the dervish of the kingdom of birds—
The eagle does not make nests
(Bal-e-Jibril-175) Falsafi
The Philosopher
Hakeem Sirr-e-Mohabbat Se Be-Naseeb Raha
He could fly high but he wasn’t daring and passionate,
The sage remained a stranger to the secret of Love.
Shakar-e-Zinda Ki Lazzat Se Be-Naseeb Raha
The vulture roamed around the air like an eagle,
But could not get acquainted with the taste of a fresh prey.
(Bal-e-Jibril-174) Sheikh-e-Maktab
To The Headmaster
Jis Ki San’at Hai Rooh-e-Insani
The headmaster is an architect
Whose material is the human soul.
Keh Gaya Hai Hakeem-e-Qa’ani
A good advice has been left for you
By the sage Qa‘ani:
Khawahi Ar Sehan-e-Khana Noorani”
Do not raise a wall against the Sun
If you wish the courtyard illuminated.”
(Bal-e-Jibril-173) Parwaz
Flight
Sitam Pe Gham Kada-e-Rang-o-Bu Ki Hai Bunyad
The tree said to a bird of the desert one day:
“Creation is founded on the principle of injustice;
Shugufta Aur Bhi Hota Ye Alam-e-Aejad
For the Creation could have been so much more pleasant
If I had also been granted the gift of flight.”
Ghazab Hai, Dad Ko Samjha Huwa Hai Tu Bedad!
The bird gave him a good reply:
“Woe! You regard justice to be injustice;
Wujood Jis Ka Nahin Jazb-e-Khak Se Azad
He is not entitled to fly in this world,
Whoever is not free from earth‐rootedness.”
(Bal-e-Jibril-172) Lahoo
Blood
Agar Lahoo Hai Badan Mein To Dil Hai Be Waswaas
If blood is warm in the body, there is no fear nor anxiety,
And the heart is free of tribulations.
Na Seem-o-Zar Se Mohabbat Hai, Ne Gham-e-Aflaas
The one who has received this bounty
Is neither greedy for wealth nor miserable in poverty.
(Bal-e-Jibril-171) Iblees Ki Arzdasht
Satan’s Petition
Par Kala-e-Atish Huwi Adam Ki Kaf-e-Khaak!
To the Lord of the universe the Devil said:—
A firebrand Adam grows, that pinch of dust
Dil Naza Ki Halat Mein, Khirad Pukhta-o-Chalaak!
Meager‐souled, plump of flesh, in fine clothes trussed,
Brain ripe and subtle, heart not far from dead.
Maghrib Ke Faqeehon Ka Ye Fatwa Hai Pak!
What the East’s sacred law made men abjure,
The casuist of the West pronounces pure;
Weerani-e-Jannat Ke Tasawwar Se Hain Ghamnaak?
Knowest Thou not, the girls of Paradise see
And mourn their gardens turning wilderness?
Baqi Nahin Ab Meri Zaroorat Teh-e-Aflak!
For fiends its rulers serve the populace:
Beneath the heavens is no more need of me!
(Bal-e-Jibril-170) Khanqah
Monastery
Aur Ata Bhi Nahin Mujh Ko Sukhan Sazi Ka Fann
Talking in signs and symbol is not for this age,
And I know not the art of artful sniggers;
Khanqahon Mein Majawar Reh Gye Ya Gorkan!
No more are those who said: Rise, in God’s name!
The ones alive are sweepers and grave‐diggers.
(Bal-e-Jibril-169) Judai
Separation
Dunya Ke Liye Rida-e-Noori
The sun is weaving with golden thread
A mantle of light about earthʹs head;
Har Shay Ko Naseeb Hai Huzoori
Creation hushed in ecstasy,
As in the presence of the Most High.
Kya Janain Faraaq-o-Nasaboori
What can these know—stream, hill, moon, star—
Of separation’s torturing scar?
Ye Khak Hai Mehram-e-Judai
Mine is this golden grief alone,
To this dust only is this grief known.
(Bal-e-Jibril-168) Khudi
The Self
Nahin Shaola Dete Sharar Ke Ewaz
Barter not thy selfhood for silver and gold;
Sell not a burning flame for a spark half‐cold;
Ajam Jis Ke Surme Se Roshan Basar
So says Firdowsi, the poet of vision and grace,
Who brought to the East the dawn of brighter days:
Tu Bayad Ke Bashi, Daram Go Mabash”
Be not a churl for filthy lucre’s sake,
Count not thy coppers, whatever they may make.
(Bal-e-Jibril-167) Faqar
Ek Faqr Se Khulte Hain Asrar-e-Jahangeeri
There is a faqr that teaches the hunter to be a prey;
There is another that opens the secrets of mastery over the world.
Ek Faqr Se Mitti Mein Khasiyat-e-Ikseeri
There is a faqr that is the root of needfulness and misery among nations;
There is another that turns mere dust into elixir.
Meeras-e-Musalmani, Sarmaya-e-Shabiri!
One faqr is Shabiri, and it has qualities of emperor
Which is Muslim heritage and real wealth of Shabir.
(Bal-e-Jibril-166) Siasat
Politics
Shatir Ki Anayat Se Tu Farzeen, Mein Piyada
Ranks must be determined for this game;
Let you be the firzine and I the pawn by the grace of the chess‐player.
Farzeen Se Bhi Poshida Hai Shatir Ka Irada!
The pawn, indeed, is an insignificant token,
Even the farzine is not privy to the chess-player’s strategy.
(Bal-e-Jibril-165) Punjab Ke Peerzadon Se
Punjab Ke Peerzadon Se
To The Punjab Pirs
Woh Khak Ke Hai Zair-e-Falak Matla-e-Anwar
I stood by the Reformerʹs tomb: that dust
Whence here below an orient splendor breaks,
Iss Khak Main Poshida Hai Woh Sahib-e-Asrar
Dust before whose least speck stars hang their heads,
Dust shrouding that high knower of things unknown
Jis Ke Nafs-e-Garam Se Hai Garmi-e-Arhar
Who to Jahangir would not bend his neck,
Whose ardent breath fans every free heartʹs ardour,
Allah Ne Barwaqt Kiya Jis Ko Khabardar
Whom Allah sent in season to keep watch
In India on the treasure‐house of Islam.
Ankhain Meri Beena Hain, Walekin Nahi Baidar!
I craved the saintsʹ gift, other‐worldliness
For my eyes saw, yet dimly. Answer came:
Hain Ahl-e-Nazar Kishwar-e-Punjab Se Bezar
“Closed is the long roll of the saints; this Land
Of the Five Rivers stinks in good menʹs nostrils.
Paida Kulah-e-Faqr Se Ho Turra-e-Dastar
Godʹs people have no portion in that country
Where lordly tassel sprouts from monkish cap;
Turron Ne Charhaya Nasha-e-‘Khidmat-e-Sarkar’!
That cap bred passionate faith, this tassel breeds
Passion for playing pander to Government.”
(Bal-e-Jibril-164) Cinema
Cinema Hai Ya San’at-e-Azari Hai
Cinema—or new fetish‐fashioning,
Idol‐making and mongering still?
Ye San’at Nahin, Shewa-e-Sahiri Hai
Art, men called that olden voodoo—
Art, they call this mumbo‐jumbo;
Ye Tehzeeb-e-Hazir Ki Soudagari Hai
That—antiquityʹs poor religion:
This—modernityʹs pigeon‐plucking;
Woh Bot Khana Khaki, Ye Khakastari Hai
That—earthʹs soil: this—soil of Hades;
Dust, their temple; ashes, ours.