I’m starting a collection of Urdu Ghazals that I like. These are poems called “Sher” with rhyming couplets and a refrain, most of which were written during the Mughal rule (late 17th-early 18th Century) and sung by great classical singers from India and Pakistan such as Ghulam Ali, Mehdi Hassan, Begum Akhtar and Abida Parveen. The format they’re written in will not be uniform to begin with, as I’m simply pilfering them off the net. I’ll try to introduce some structure and translations later, as well as credit the original poet “shayyar”.

Mohabbat karne waale: There will be no shortage of admirers; but I will not be present in your company.
Ranjish hi sahi: An invitation to an uninterested person.
Ab ke hum biccha.de: Maybe we shall meet again.

Mohabbat karne waale
Shaayar: Hafeez Hoshiarpuri

mohabbat karne waale kam na ho.nge
terii mehfil me.n lekin ham na ho.nge

There will be no shortage of admirers
but I will not be present in your company.

zamaane bhar ke Gham yaa ik teraa Gham
ye Gham hogaa to kitne Gham na ho.nge

dilo.n kii ulajhane.n ba.Datii rahe.ngii
agar kuchh mashvare baaham na ho.nge

Uljhan: Labyrinth, Net
Uljhanein: Problems, Confusion, Complications
Mashvare: Counsel, Advice
Baaham: Mutual, Together, With, With Each Other

agar tuu ittifaaqan mil bhii jaaye
terii furqat ke sadame.n kam na ho.nge

Ittifaaq: Accordance, Accident, Agreement, Concord, Chance, Event, Opportunity
Ittifaaqan: Accidentally
Furqat: Absence (of Lovers), Away, Distinction Disunion, Parting, Separation
Sadma: Affliction, Bereavement, Blow, Calamity, Collision, Jar, Shock, Suffering

‘Hafeez’ un se mai.n jitnaa bad_gumaa.N huu.N
vo mujh se is qadar barham na ho.nge

Ranjish hi sahi

Ranjish hi sahi dil hi dukhaanay kay liyay aa
aa phir say mujhay chhorr kay jaanay kay liyay aa

Let it be anguish, come still to torment my heart
Come, even if to leave me again

pehlay say maraasim na sahi phir bhi kabhi to
rasm-o-rahay duniya hi nibhaanay kay liyay aa

If not for our past association
Come to fulfill the rituals of the world

kis kis ko bataayengay judaai kaa sabab ham
tu mujh se khafaa hai to zamaanay kay liyay aa

Who else must I explain the reason of separation
Come, despite your displeasure, to continue the ceremony

kuchh to meri pindaar-e-mohabbat ka bharam rakh
tu bhi to kabhi mujh ko manaanay kay liyay aa

Respect a little the depth of my love for you
Come someday to placate me as well

ek umr say hun lazzat-e-giryaa se bhi mehruum
aye raahat-e-jaan mujh ko rulaanay kay liyay aa

Too long have I been deprived of the pathos of longing
Come Respite of my Soul, if only to make me weep again

ab tak dil-e-khush_feham ko tujh say hain ummeedain
ye aakhari shammain bhi bujhaanay kay liyay aa

Till now, my heart suffers from some expectation
Come to snuff even these last candles of hope

Ab ke hum biccha.de
By Ahmed Faraz
Translated by Ayesha Kaljuvee & Sonia Mansoor

ab ke ham bichha.de to shaayad kabhii khvaabo.n me.n mile.n
jis tarah suukhe hue phuul kitaabo.n me.n mile.n
If now these feelings we cover, perhaps in dreams shall we meet
As dried flowers are chanced upon pressed softly in books

dhuu.ndh uja.de hue logo.n me.n vafaa ke motii
ye khazaane tujhe mumkin hai kharaabo.n me.n mile.n
Pearls of loyalty amongst those lost in desolate fogs
In dark misfortune, these treasures you may encounter

tuu fkudaa hai na meraa ishq farishto.n jaisaa
dono.n insaa.n hai.n to kyo.n itane hijaabo.n me.n mile.n
God you are not, nor is my love sanctioned by the angels
Both mortals, why meet then behind such innumerable veils?

gam-e-duniyaa bhii gam-e-yaar me.n shaamil kar lo
nashaa ba.dataa hai sharabe.n jo sharaabo.n me.n mile.n
Add the pathos of love to the great tragedies of the world
Even though its intoxication makes it worthy of worship

aaj ham daar pe khe.nche gaye jin baato.n par
kyaa ajab kal vo zamaane ko nisaabo.n me.n mile.n
Those conversations that today tore us apart at your door
How remarkable if the cosmos echoed them in other fates too

ab na vo mai.n huu.n na tu hai na vo maazii hai `Faraaz’,
jaise do shakhs tamannaa ke saraabo.n me.m mile.n
Now it is neither I, nor you, nor is it the past ‘Faraaz’
As if two people came together only in the mirage of desire