अब वही हर्फ़-ए-जूनून...

Impassioned words of mischief
ride fierce on lashing tongues
no rein can check
this lurid conversation
that runs like a bolted horse

What the preacher’s code
decreed forbidden -
that enemy of faith -
has now become
a reprieve to the soul

With a temper foul,
wanders around
the counsel of the masses -
Little wisdom gained –
but the trivial details
and the echoes
of the din of alleys
where his beloved stays

Oh that Laila’s cheek,
Sheeri’s blossom lips
Lingers for a moment too long
Beloved’s shameless gaze

The twilight of blessed union
Fleeting but sweet
In throes of separation
Farewell we bid
To us, to the night

Who can grab and hold
first fragrance of zephyr
before it escapes forever
lament of a broken heart
secretive still, shall sneak
in a moan, breaking a
promise with the seal of lips

No traps to lay
where the nightingales flock
Hands of the hunter fidget
for want of another catch
No roses for beloved’s curly lock
The florist could make
nor wreaths of devotion -
Forever, the deity waits
Flowers bereft of fragrance moan
Nightingale in silence sulks
For loss of morning song

Breathless joys of spring
Savory but short lived
Consumed by the dreary chill
of autumn, an uninvited guest
that looks for reasons unsound
to prolong the unwelcome visit


In a prison of gloom
rhymes for an unsettled heart
you did compose,
“Faiz” world has found
a voice and lilt in your verse