Even Though You’re Upset

How shall we explain
To the world
The reason for our parting?

Even though you’re upset
With me
For the sake of everyone asking
Come back

Our grievances apart
If only to torment
My heart
Come back

Even though we’re not
As close as before
Still sometime
If only for the sake of custom
Come back

Admittedly hiding love
Is love
Someday secretly
To proclaim your love
Come back

Come back
If only to leave me again

Come back

Ranjish Hi Sahi, original in Urdu by Ahmed Faraz

The Mountains That We Climb

In life, we all have our mountains to climb.
Our bidding is to keep going, even when times are grim.
With prayers and effort, and a firm belief.
We long for that breathtaking view from the summit.

Once there, we may realize,
little do we understand the grand scheme.
Such unexpected is life,
that it never ceases to amaze and surprise.

The Dreams We Never Had

Sometimes in life, we have dreams.

Some can be achieved if we work really hard,
pray from our hearts,
and are fortunate enough to have just that extra bit of fate on our side.

Some are so big, we know they’ll always be outside our reach.
Yet we hope, and we pray.
And we carry them inside us, safeguarding them as the years pass by.

Sometimes in life dreams come true.

It may not be the ones we expected,
or knew even existed.
We find ourselves on top of a mountain we never climbed.

Why?

Why am I lonely among so many people?
Why am I in darkness among all these lights?

Why do I feel empty when my heart is full?
Why do I feel far from home when I live right here?

Why are you still upset when you know I never meant to hurt you?
Why do I write sad things when they make my heart unconsolable?

Why does time pass so quickly when there is so little left?
Why am I still waiting when there is nothing left to wait for?

My Heart Sinks (whenever I remember my beloved) Part 2

When he sulked, time sulked, the whole universe sulked
What can I say, I have no words, this parting has beaten me down
Maybe he forgot my memories, but who can forget him?

My heart sinks whenever I remember my beloved

How do I console my heart, I can’t bear the loneliness
This is what I got in return for love, the world is laughing at me
Without him, the emptiness of the courtyard takes a bite out of me

My heart sinks whenever I remember my beloved

If my lord returns home, I will celebrate a hundred times
Holding him in a tight embrace, I will hide him beneath my eyelids
The wise have told the truth, no one should ever fall in love

My heart sinks whenever I remember my beloved

Original in Urdu by Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan

The Tango

There’s something wonderfully fascinating about trees that draws me in. And keeps me there.
Something mysterious, yet oddly familiar.

Their immobility, but through the will of nature’s elements.
Their submissiveness and flexibility, yet strong rooted resolve.

Their self-sacrificing nature, always sheltering, shading, protecting.
Their power of renewal, through a never-ending cycle of the seasons.

Their beauty, as full and diverse as nature itself.
And colors, ranging from the deepest blues to the highest yellows.

It is in the autumn, at the bottom of another rhythm, that they seduce me most.
A tango between light and hue, a dazzling spectacle to behold.

Capturing my soul, and not letting go.
There are stories yet to be told.

Sunday Blues – Darker

Sunday Blues - Darker

Last Sunday we set the clock back one hour. The end of daylight savings time is a sure sign of the arrival of autumn. Even though there is still the occasional day where the sun feels warm on my skin, the chill has definitely arrived. The days are getting cold. The nights colder.

But it is the darkness I dread.

There are remedies for cold and wet. But none for the darkness that seems to escape its prison deep in the confines of my heart, and spread out, threatening to extend the night indefinitely. Suddenly all about me, I see the shadow that  I carry locked away inside me. And I feel it within and without.

And all the lights, become mere ephemeral spots of joy in the gloom. My Sunday blues, it seems, just got darker.

My Heart Sinks (Whenever I Remember my Beloved)

My Heart Sinks (Whenever I Remember my Beloved)

My heart sinks whenever I remember my beloved
My dearest lives far away, would someone bring him back?

My heart sinks whenever I remember my beloved

My heart’s desire is not with me, with whom shall I talk?
To me, nobody is like him, to whom shall I open my heart?
I keep begging but I am powerless

My heart sinks whenever I remember my beloved

I keep going to the roof awaiting his return
If the one who left ever peeked into my sighs
he would not have left alone, who can reason with him?

My heart sinks whenever I remember my beloved

Original in Urdu by Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan