It truly is a wonderful feeling to stumble upon a new ghazal or a ghazal one has not heard in a really long while. Here is one such classic ghazal written by Urdu poet Kaif Bhopali and beautifully rendered musically by Jagjit Singh.
Kaif Bhopali is best known for writing songs like Chalo Dildar Chalo in Kamal Amrohi’s classic 1972 film Pakeezah and for Aye Khuda Shukr Tera from Amrohi’s 1982 Razia Sultan.
Kaun aayega yahan koi na aaya hoga, kaun aayega yahan koi na aaya hoga
Mera darwaaza hawao ne hilaya hoga
There is no one who will come here, no one would have really come
My door must have swayed by the winds
Dil-e-nadan na dhadak, Aye dil-e-nadan na dhadak
Koi khat leke padosi ke ghar aaya hoga
O innocent heart, don’t beat so hard, O innocent heart don’t beat..
Someone bearing a letter, must have knocked on the neighbours door..
Gul se lipti huyi titli ko girakar dekho,
Aandhiyon tumne darakhton ko giraya hoga
Ever tried separating a butterfly that is embracing a flower…
O storms, you may have found it easier to makes branches and trees fall down
is gulistan ki yahi riit hai ai shakh-e-gul
tu ne jis phool ko paala vo paraya hoga
This is the custom of the garden, O branch of flowers
The bud that you nurtured into a flower, that will eventually belong to someone else
Khelne ke liye bachche nikal aaye honge
Chand ab us ki gali mein utar aaya hoga
The children must have emerged from their homes to play
The moon must have risen in her street by now
Kaif, pardes mein mat yaad karo apna makaan
Ab ke baarish ne use tod giraya hoga
Kaif (name of poet), don’t reminisce about your home from a faraway land..
This monsoon, it may have been broken down
Here is the ghazal sung by Jagjit Singh –
urduwallahs 