Swati Sani

I write poetry in Urdu, and about Urdu poetry in English. Also a runner, and fitness enthusiast; and an entrepreneur.

[Swati Sani @swatisani]

مجھے بھی حق ہے تجھ سے اختلاف کا
زمانے کو یہ بات بھی بتائی جائے
سواتی ثانی ریشمؔ –

मुझे भी हक़ है तुझ से इख्तिलाफ़ का
ज़माने को ये बात भी बताई जाये
– स्वाति सानी “रेशम”

#dissent #UrduPoetry #Urdu #Shair

[Swati Sani @swatisani]

dhoop ne guzarish kii
ek booNd barish kii
– Mohammad Alvi

The sunlight made a plea
for a drop of rain’s mercy

[Swati Sani @swatisani]

kaise bhar aayiN sar-e-shaam kisi ki aankheN
kaise tharrayi charaghoN ki ziya yaad nahiN
– Saghar Siddiqui

How, at dusk, from someone’s eyes, tears started to fall
how the glow of lamps trembled, I cannot recall

[Swati Sani @swatisani]

chaand bhi hairaan dariya bhii pareshaani meiN hai
‘aks kis ka hai ki itni roshni paani meiN hai
– Farhat Ehsaas

The moon is amazed, and the river is astonished too,
whose reflection is this, that the water shines through

[Swati Sani @swatisani]

log kehte haiN mohabbat meiN asar hota hai
kaun se shahar meiN hota hai kidhar hota hai
– Ghulam Hamdani Mushafi

People say that love leaves a mark and casts a spell
In which city does it happen, where does it dwell

[Swati Sani @swatisani]

hai ‘ajeeb shaher ki zindagi na safar raha na qayaam hai
kahiN karobaar si dopahar kahiN badmizaaj si shaam hai
– Bashir Badr

Strange is this city life, we neither journey on nor stay
here a bustling afternoon, there a surly evening drifts away

[Swati Sani @swatisani]

ham haiN mata-e-koocha-o-baazar kii tarah
uth-ti hai har nigaah kharidaar ki tarah
– Majrooh Sultanpuri

We are like the wares displayed on the streets and bazaar
every gaze that turns to us is like that of a buyer

[Swati Sani @swatisani]

ye aur baat hai koii mahke koi chubhe
gulshan to jitna gul maiN hai utna hai khaar meiN
– Nida Fazli

It’s another matter that some spread fragrance, and some prick;
the garden lives as much in every flower as in each thorn of it.

[Swati Sani @swatisani]

kabhii to khul ke baras abr-e-meharbaaN ki tarah
mera wajood hai jalte hue makaN ki tarah
– Prem Warbartani

Let your benevolence pour like a generous cloud raining
for my being is aflame like a house that is burning

[Swati Sani @swatisani]

Tum se ulfat ke taqaaze na nibaahe jaate
varna ham ko bhii tamanna thii ki chaahe jaate
– Shanul Haq Haqqi

You couldn’t ever honor what love required
else I too yearned to be loved and desired

[Swati Sani @swatisani]

nayi subah pe nazar hai magar aah! ye bhee dar hai
ye sahar bhe rafta rafta kahiN shaam tak na pahunche
– Shakeel Badayuni

A new dawn is in sight, but there is fear too
this dawn may slowly fade into dusk, bidding the day adieu

[Swati Sani @swatisani]

un se jo kehne gaye thae ‘Faiz’ jaaN sadqa kiye
an-kahii hi rah gayi wo baat sab baatoN ke ba’ad
-Faiz Ahmad Faiz

Ready to give your life, you went “Faiz,” determined to say
but unspoken on your lips, those decided words lay

[Swati Sani @swatisani]

ham to samjhe thae ki ik zakhm hai bhar jayega
kya khabar thii ki rag-e-jaaN meiN utar jayega
– Parveen Shakir

I thought it was just a wound that would heal on its own
little did I know it would sink deep into my soul

[Swati Sani @swatisani]

@AbidZaidi1 Wah!

[Swati Sani @swatisani]

tumhare baad bhala kya haiN wa’ada-o-paimaN
bas apna waqt gawaN luN agar ijaazat ho
– Jaun Eliya

What worth are vows and promises now that you are gone
if you permit, I will merely waste my life away alone

[Swati Sani @swatisani]

us ne baarish meiN bhii khidkii khol ke dekha nahiN
bheegne waloN ko kal kya kya pareshaani huii
– Jamaal Ehsaani

Even in the pouring rain, she did not open her window to see
the troubles the drenched endured yesterday, and their misery

[Swati Sani @swatisani]

MaiN badhte badhte kisi roz tujh ko chhuu leta
ki gin ke rakh diye tu ne miri majaal ke din
– Abdul Ahad Saaz

I might have reached out to touch you one day as I grew
but you set limits on my courage and gave me days too few

[Swati Sani @swatisani]

Thandi sadak thi bekhabar garm dinoN ke qahar se
dhoop ko jhelte rahe ped khade qataar meiN
– Adil Mansoori

The road was cool untouched by the wrath of summer days
while the trees lined up, bearing the blazing sunrays

[Swati Sani @swatisani]

YuN uthe aah us gali se ham
jaise koii jahaN se uth-ta hai
– Mir Taqi Mir

Ah! how I got up and left that lane
like one would leave this world in pain

[Swati Sani @swatisani]

Wo musafir hii khuli dhoop ka thaa
sayee phaila ke shajar kya karte
– Parveen Shakir

He was a traveler who belonged to the blazing sun
what could the trees with their shadows have done

[Swati Sani @swatisani]

kahanii hai to itnii hai fareb-e-khwaab-e-hastii kii
ki aankheN band hoN aur aadmi afsaana ho jaaye
– Seemab Akbarabadi

The illusion of life’s dream is no more than this story
as soon as his eyes close forever, a story is all a man will be