Ali Sardar Jafri

Border - Sarhad

Who's the enemy ? - Kaun Dushman Hai

Ghulam tum bhi the kal tak, ghulam hum bhi the... Naha ke khoon mein aayee thi fasl-e-aazadi...

You were slaves(of the British) till yesterday, so were we.
And then came the season of freedom bathed in showers of blood...
Between you and us rage rivers of fire
Tall frowning barriers of hate
With a mere glance, however, we can tear them down;
We can forget, forgive the cruel part;
And again embrace you, yes we can.
But first you will have to break your swords,
And cleanse these bloodied garments;
After that we shall become no more strangers.
You bring us flowers from the gardens of Lahore,
We bring you light from the dawns of Benares,
Freshness of the Himalayan breeze;
And thereafter we ask each other:
Who is the enemy?

 

Sqn Ldr Anil and Seema Sehgal set the poem "Sarhad" to music

Conversation - Guftagu Band Na Ho

To Friendship between India and Pakistan

Keep the conversation going.
One word leading to another.
The evening rendezvous lasting till dawn,
The starry night laughing down with us.
Though we hurl our stones of abuse,
Pass around poisoned cups
Brimming with taunts,
Gaze steely-eyed at each other,
None of this matters.
Though we are helpless,
Just keep our hearts
Warm and beating.
Don't let words
Be stifled with helplessness.
Don't let voices be murdered.

By dawn some word of love
Is bound to emerge.
Love will be victorious,
It surely will.
Our hearts will stir,
Mouths tremble,
And eyes well with tears.
Silence will perfume
Like a kiss,
And will resound
With the sound of opening buds.
No need for talk,
When eyes glow with love
Hate will leave for ever
Giving way to affection.

My Journey

Such a day will arrive again
[when] the lamps of the eyes will get extinguished;
the lotus of the hands will get withered
and each butterfly of speech and voice
will flee from the leaf of the tongue.
All faces that blossom like buds,
chuckle like flowers,
the circling of blood, the beats of heart,
all [such] symphonies will go to sleep
on the bed of a dark ocean.
And, this grinning diamond particle,
this paradise of mine, this earth
that is laid out on the velvet of the blue environ,
its morns, its evenings
will, unwittingly, unconsciously,
pass on shedding the tears of dew
[on the demise of] a handful of dust of a man.
Everything will be forgotten;
everything will be removed
from the exquisite idol-house of memories.
Then no one will ask:
Where is Sardar in the congregation?

Yet, I'll come here again;
[I] will talk with the mouths of the tots;
will sing in the tongue of the birds.
When seeds will grin beneath earth
and the sapling, with its fingers,
will vex the crusts of earth,
I'll open my eyes
in leaves and buds;
will take, in [my] verdant palm,
the dew drops.
I'll turn into the colour of henna, the tune of ghazal
[and] the style of poetry.
[I], like the hue of the cheek of a bride,
will filter from every stole.
When the winds of winter
will bring along with them
the season of autumn'
my laughter will be heard
from the dry leaves that will
be trampled under the robust feet of the passerby.
All the golden rivers of the earth;
all the azure lakes of the sky
will get filled with my being.
And the world will see
[that] every tale is [in fact] my tale;
here every lover is Sardar
[and] every beloved is Sultaanaa

I'm a fleeting moment
in the enchanting-house of time;
I'm a restless drop
that travels
from the pitcher of the past
to the wine-cup of the future.
I sleep and get up
and again go to sleep.
I'm a play that's many centuries old.
I expire and become immortal.

Such a day will arrive again

 

DIALOGUE SHOULDN'T CEASE

Dialogue shouldn't cease;
let the talk go on,
let the evening of [our] meet persist till the arrival of morn,
let this starry night pass on joyfully.

Let the stone of abuse be in the hands of words;
let the cups of poison spill ridicule;
let the sights be irate;
let the eyebrows be raised;
[yet, we must see] that our hearts, somehow, keep beating.
The helplessness shouldn't be allowed to chain the words;
no killer but he should be permitted to murder the voice.

Some vow of loyalty, fully moulded, will arrive by the morn;
the love will arrive, albeit limping, yet it certainly will;
the sights will elude meeting sights [out of modesty],
the heart beats will increase,
the lips will tremble;
the silence will turn into a kiss and go astray;
only the sound of the blooming of buds will linger;
and the need of words and voice won't remain
[for] the liaison of love will be carried on with [the help of] the signs of eyes and eyebrows;
the hatred will vanish, the kindness will arrive.

Holding hands in hands;
in the company of the entire world,
we'll go across the deserts of repugnance;
we'll cross over the river of blood.

Dialogue shouldn't cease.

 

Translated by Zaheer Ali

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Born in Balrampur 1913, Uttar Pradesh, Jafri came to Mumbai in 1942 and made it his home. He firmly believed in the cultural unity of the subcontinent. Arrested for writing against British rule in India Jafri was among the last surviving members of the progressive movement in Urdu literature. An active member of the Communist Party of India, he was the self-proclaimed spokesman for the poor, and wrote zealously to promote peace and friendship between India and Pakistan, during his 69-year-old career.

In September 1965, even as the guns blazed from either side of the border, Sardar Jafri broadcast his poem Sarhad(Border) on All India Radio. It was a peace 'offensive' which stressed that "after all the killings you will finally have to talk peace sitting across a table".

Jafri's literary career began at the young age of 17 as a short story writer with the pen name Hazin. He has written nine books of verse, two plays, one memoir-reportage, three collections of critical essays and one volume of short stories. And the two countries of his affection have honoured him repeatedly. He was awarded the Iqbal Gold Medal by the Pakistan government in 1978 and in India, he was awarded the prestigious Jnanpith Puraskar in 1998. His memorable work, 'Ek Khwab Aur', won the Sahitya Akademi award.

 

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MERA SAFAR

PHIR IK DIN AISAA AAYEGAA AAnKHOn KE DIYE BUJH JAAYEInGEY HAATHOn KE KAnWAL KUMHLAAYEInGEY AUR BARG-E-ZABAAn SE NUTQ-O-SADAA KI HAR TITLI UD JAAYEGI IK KAALEY SAMAnDAR KI TAH MAIn KALIYOn KI TARAH SE KHILTI HUEE PHOOLOn KI TARAH SE HAnSTI HUEE SAARI SHAKLEIn KHO JAAYEInGI KHOOn KI GARDISH, DIL KI DHADKAN SAB RAAGNIYAAn SO JAAYEInGI AUR NEELI FAZAA KE MAKHMAL PAR HAnSTI HUEE HEREY KI YE KANI YE MERI JANNAT, MERI ZAMEEn IS KI SUBHEIn, ISKI SHAAMEIn BE-JAANEY HUYE BE-SAMJHEY HUYE IK MUSHT-E-GHUBAAR-E-INSAAn PAR SHABNAM KI TARAH RO JAAYEInGI HAR CHEEZ BHULAA DI JAAYEGI YAADOn KE HASEEn BUTKHAANEY SE HAR CHEEZ UTHAA DI JAAYEGI PHIR KOI NAHIEn YE POOCHHEYGAA SARDAR KAHAAn HAI MAHFIL MEIn LEKIN MAIn YAHAAn PHIR AAOnGAA BACHOn KE DAHAN SE BOLOnGAA CHIDYOn KI ZABAAn SE GAAOnGAA JAB BEEJ HAnSEIEnGEY DHARTI MEIn AUR KOnPAL APNI UNGLI SE MITI KI TAHOn KO CHHEDEGI MAIn PATTI PATTI, KALI KALI APNI AAnKHEIn PHIR KHOLOnGAA SAR-SABZ HATHELI PAR LEKAR SHABNAM KE QATREY TOLOnGAA MAIn RanG-E-HINAA, AAHnG-E-GHAZAL ANDAAZ-E-SUKHAN BAN JAAOnGAA RUKHSAAR-E-UROOS-E-NAU KI TARAH HAR AAnCHAL SE CHHAN JAAOnGAA JAADOn KI HAWAAEIn DAAMAN MEIn JAB FASL-E-KHIZAAn KO LAAYEGI RAHRO KE JAWAAn QADMOn KE TALEY SOOKHEY HUYE PATTOn SE MEREY HANSNEY KI SADAAEIn AAYEInGI DHARTI KI SUNHERI SAB NADIYAAn AAKAASH KI NEELI SAB JHEELEIn HASTI SE MIRI BHAR JAAYEInGI AUR SAARAA ZAMAANAA DEKHEYGAA HAR QISSAA MIRAA AFSAANAA HAI HAR AASHIQ HAI SARDAR YAHAAn HAR MAASHOOQAA SULTAANAA HAI MAIN EK GUREZAAn LAMHAA HOOn AYYAAM KE AFSOOn KHAANEY MEIn MAIn EK TADAPTAA QATRAA HOOn MASROOF-E-SAFAR JO RAHTAA HAI MAAZI KI SURAAHI KE DIL SE MUSTAQBIL KE PAIMAANEY MEIn MAIn SOTAA HOOn AUR JAAGTAA HOOn AUR JAAG KE PHIR SO JAATAA HOOn SADYOn KA PURAANAA KHEL HOOn MAIn MAIn MAR KE AMAR HO JAATAA HOOn PHIR IK DIN AISAA AAYEGAA

 

jhalak

 

sirf laharaa ke rah gayaa aa.Nchal
rang ban kar bikhar gayaa ko_ii

gardish-e-Khuu.N rago.n me.n tez hu_ii
dil ko chuukar guzar gayaa ko_ii

phuul se khil gaye tasavvur me.n
daaman-e-shauq bhar gayaa ko_ii

 

 

GUFTGOO BAnD NA HO

 

GUFTGOO BAnD NA HO
BAAT SE BAAT CHALEY
SUBH TAK SHAAM-E-MULAAQAAT CHALEY
HUM PE HAnSTI HUEE
YE TAAROn BHARI RAAT CHALEY

WO JO ALFAAZ KE HAATOn MEIn HAI SAnG-E-DUSHNAAM
TanZ CHALKAAYE TO CHALKAAYAA KAREIn ZAHR KE JAAM
TEEKHI NAZREIn HOOn
TURSH ABROO-E-KHAMDAAR RAHEY
BAN PADEY JAISEY BHI DIL SEENOn MEIn BE-DAAR RAHEY
BE-BASI HARF KO ZANJEER BA-PAA KAR NA SAKEY
KOI QAATIL HO MAGAR QATL-E-NAWAA KAR NA SAKEY

SUBH TAK DHAL KE KOI HARF-E-WAFAA AAYEGAA
ISHQ AAYEGAA BA-SAD LAGHZISH-E-PAA AAYEGAA
NAZREIn JHUK JAAYEInGI
DIL DHADKEInGEY
LUB KAAnPEInGEY
KHAMUSHI BOSA-E-LUB BAN KE BAHAK JAAYEGI
SIRF GHUNCHOn KE CHATAKNEY KI SADAA AAYEGI
AUR PHIR HARF-O-NAWAA KI NA ZAROORAT HOOGI
CHASHM-O-ABROO KE ISHAAROn MEIn MOHABBAT HOGI
NAFRAT UTH JAAYEGI, MEHMAAN MURAWWAT HOGI

HAATH MEIn HAARH LIYE, SAARAA JAHAAn SAATH LIYE
TUM………………………………PYAAR KI SAUGHAAT LIYE
REGZAAROn SE ADAAWAT KE GUZAR JAAYEInGEY
KHOOn KE DARYAA SE HUM PAAR UTAR JAAYEIn

GEGUFTGOO BAnD NA HO

 

Aqeed'e bujH rah'e heN, sham'e jaaN gul hoti jaati hae (RealPlayer-2:33)