You are the pearl that longing cannot pluck

You are the garland that yearning cannot weave

You are the riddle that love cannot solve

You are the love that even love cannot understand

May these beautiful tears of mine, god willing,

Never find a hem to soak them

Ajnabi

Ai hama-rang hama-nur hama-soz-o-gudaaz

Bbazm-e-mahtaab se aane ki zarurat kyaa thi

Tu jahaan thin usin jannat men nikhartaa tiraa ruup

Is jahannam ko basaane ki zarurat kyaa thi

Ye ḳhad-o-ḳhaal ye ḳhvaabon se taraashaa huaa jism

Aur dil jis pe ḳhad-o-ḳhaal kin narmin bhin nisaar

Khaar hin ḳhaar sharaare hin sharaare hain yahaan

Aur tham tham ke uthaa paanv bahaaron kin bahaar

Tishnagin zahr bhin pin jaatin hai amrit kin tarah

Jaane kis jaam pe ruk jaa.e nigaah-e-ma.asum

Dubte dekhaa hai jin aankhon men mai-ḳhaana bhin

Pyaas un aankhon kin bujhe yaa na bujhe kyaa ma.alum

Hain sabhin husn-parast ahl-e-nazar saahib-e-dil

Koin ghar men koin mahfil men sajaa.egaa tujhe

Tu faqat jism nahinn sher bhin hai giit bhin hai

Kaun ashkon kin ghanin chhaanv men gaa.egaa tujhe

Tujh se ik dard kaa rishta bhin hai bas pyaar nahinn

Apne aanchal pe mujhe ashk bahaa lene de

Tu jahaan jaatin hai jaa, rokne vaalaa main kaun

Apne raaste men magar sham.a jalaa lene de

Stranger

You who are full of colours, filled with light, and passion and tenderness

Why did you leave the moon’s banquet?

Your beauty would have been enhanced in the heaven you lived in

Why did you come to live in this hell?

This form and features, this body chiselled from dreams

And a heart way superior to the form and features

There is nothing here, but thorns and flares

Pick your way slowly, O choicest spring of all springs

Thirst is known to gulp poison as though it is nectar

Who knows on which chalice the innocent gaze will rest?

The eyes in which I have seen taverns drown

Will their thirst ever be assuaged?

Everyone here loves beauty, a connoisseur of impeccable taste

Someone will adorn you in their home, others in gatherings of friends

You are not merely a body; you are a verse, and a poem too

Who will hum you in the dense shade of tears

It’s not love alone that binds us but sorrows too

Let me shed my tears on your veil

Go, wherever you wish; who am I to stop you

But let me light candles along the path you take

Pehla Salaam

Eik chanchal jhijhak, eik alharh payaam

Hai ‘Kaifi’ kisi ka woh pehla salaam

Phool rukhsaar ke rasmasane lagey

Haath uththa qadam dagmagane lagey

Rang sa khaal-o khad se jhalakne laga

Sar se rangiin aanchal dhalakne laga

Ajnabiyat aankhein churaane lagii

Dil dhadakne lagai, lehar aane lagii

Saans mein ik gulabi girah parh gayii

Hont tharray, simtey, nazar garh gayii

Reh gaya umr bhar ke liye yeh hijaab

Kyun na sambhla hua de saka main jawaab