habib jalib ten poems

8/9/2019 Habib Jalib Ten Poems

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Ten Poems

Habib Jalib

I

What Does Pakistan Mean?

Bread, clothes and medicineA little house to live in

Free education, as may right be seen

A Muslim, I, too, have always beenWhat does Pakistan mean

There is no God, but God, The Rab-al-

alameenFor American alms do not bray

Do not, the people, laugh away

With the democratic struggle do not playHold on to freedom, do not cave in

What does Pakistan meanThere is no God...

Confiscate the fields from the landownersTake away the mills from the robbers

Redeem the country from its dark hours

Off with the lordly verminWhat does Pakistan mean

There is no God...

Sind, Baluchistan and FrontierThese three are to Panjab most dear

And Bengal lends them splendour

Anguished should not be their mienWhat does Pakistan mean

There is no God...

This, then, is the basic thing

For the people, let freedoms bell ringFrom the rope, let the plunderer swing

Truly they speak, who the truth have seen

What does Pakistan meanThere is no God, but Allah...

I

Pakistan Ka Matlab Kya?

Roti, kapda aur dawaGhar rehne ko chhota sa

Muft mujhe talim dila

Mein bhi Musalmaan hoon wallahPakistan ka matlab kya

La Ilaha Illalah

Amrika se mang na bhikMat kar logon ki tazhik

Rok na janhoori tehrik

Chhod na azadi ki rahPakistan ka matlab hai kya

La Ilaha IllalahKhet waderon se le lo

Milen luteron se le loMulk andheron se le lo

Rahe na koi Alijah

Pakistan ka matlab kyaLa Ilaha Illalah

Sarhad, Sindh, Baluchistan

Teenon hain Panjab ki jaanAur Bangal hai sab ki aan

Aai na un ke lab par aah

Pakistan ka matlab kyaLa Ilaha Illalah

Baat yehi hai bunyadi

Ghasib ki ho barbadi

Haq kehte hain haq agahPakistan ka matlab kya

La Ilaha Illalah

II

Islam Is Not In DangerEndangered are the idle rich, bursting with

cash

Crumbling walls about to crashAll the centuries mish-mash

Islam is not in danger

Why do a few clans all the land rights enjoyAnd those, who revere the Prophet, are

II

Khatre Mein Islam NahinKhatra hai zar daron ko

Girti hui diwaron ko

Sadiyon ke bimaron koKhatre mein Islam nahin

Sari zamin ko ghere hue hain aakhir chand

gharane kyonNaam nabi ka lene wale ulfat se begane kyon


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bereft of joyEndangered are the beasts of prey

Multicoloured cars which in the streets

sashayAnd for whom the American hearts sway

Islam is not in dangerDue to our slogans the palaces shake and

trembleThe towering ornate shops cannot our hopes

quell

Endangered are the robbers of the highwayWestern traders who make hay

Thieves and tricksters who waylay

Islam is not in dangerHolding aloft the banner of peace, loving all

humans, we are on the go

Loving all the world, O Jalib, is our proudcredoEndangered are the palatial predators

The kings and their abettors

Nawabs and other such traitorsIslam is not in danger.

Khatra hai khun khwaron koRang birangi karon ko

Amrika ke pyaron ko

Khatre mein Islam nahinAaj hamare naaron se larza hai bapa aiwanon

meinBik na sakenge hasrat-o arman unchi saji

dukanon meinKhatra hai bat maron ko

Maghrib ke bazaron ko

Choron ko makkaron koKhatre mein Islam nahin

Amn ka parcham le kar utho har insane se

piyar karoAprna to manshoor hai Jalib, sare jahan se

pyar karo

Khatra hai darbaron koShahon ke ghamkhwaron koNawabon, ghaddaron ko

Khatre mein Islam nahin

III

Maulana

Too long I have heard you preach and prate,

Maulana

But so far there has been no change in myfate, Maulana

Keep to yourself your preachings of

gratefulnessMy heart, like an arrow, they penetrate,

Maulana

The truth, only you know or God knowsThey say that Jimmy Carter is your pir*

incarnate, Maulana

The land to the landlords, the machine to the

despoilers

This, according to you, is Gods dictate,Maulana

Why dont millions fight for PalestinePrayers alone cannot from chains liberate,

Maulana

* Sufi saint

III

Maulana

Bahut mein ne suni hai aap ki taqreer Maulana

Magar badli nahin ab tak meri taqdeer

MaulanaKhudara Shukr ki talqeen apne pass hi rakhen

Yeh lagti hai mere seene pe ban kar teeer

MaulanaNahin mein bol sakta jhut is darja dhitai se

Yehi hai jurm mera aur yehi taqsir Maulana

Haqeeqat ka kya hai, yeh to aap jaanen yaKhuda jane

Suna hai Jimmi Carter hai aap ka peer

Maulana

Zameenen hon waderon ki, mashinen hon

luteron kiKhuda ne likh ke di hai yeh tumhen terhrir

MaulanaKarodon kyon nahin mil kar Falastin ke liye

ladte

Dua hi se faqat kat-ti nahin zanjir MaulanaIV IV


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Ghazal

Hindustan belongs to me and Pakistan

belongs to me

Both of these, however, are under Americanhegemony

American aid gave us wheat, as also theirdeceit

Do not ask me how long weve suffered theirconceit

And yet the bayonets are all around this

flowering valleyHindustan belongs to me and Pakistan

belongs to me

Khan Bahadur, do not follow the English,from them better keep away

Once again they are holding you by the

collar, you are still their preyMacmillan was never thine, Kennedy cannever be

Hindustan belongs to me and Pakistan

belongs to meThis land in fact, my dear, belongs to

peasants and workers

Here will not run the writ of a few clannishmarauders

The dawn of freedom is heralding the end of

tyranny

Hindustan belongs to me and Pakistanbelongs to me.

Ghazal

Hindustan bhi mera hai aur Pakistan bhi mera

hai

Lekin in donon mulkon mein Amrika dera haiAid ki gandam kha kar ham ne kitney dhokey

khai hainPoochh na hamne Amrika ke kitne naaz uthai

hainPhir bhi ab tak wadi-e gul ko sangeenon ne

ghera hai

Hindustan bhi mera hai aur Pakistan bhi merahai

Khan Bahadur chhodna hoga ab to saath

Angrezon kaTa bah gareban aa pahuncha hai phir se hath

Angrezon ka

Macmilan tera na hua to Kenedy kab tera haiHindustan bhi mera hai aur Pakistan bhi merahai

Yeh dharti hai asal mein, pyare, mazdooron

dahqanon kiIs dharti par chal na sakegi marzi chand

gharanon ki

Zulm ki rat rahegi kab tak ab nazdik savera haiHindustan bhi mera hai aur Pakistan bhi mera

hai

V

The Mother

The children were shot dead

The mother, in fury, saidThese pieces of my heart

Should cry and I stand apart

Looking on from afar

This I cannot do

I should look on from afarAs the tyrants, night and day

With the blood of my children Holi* playBesmirched in red

As the children were shot dead

The mother, in fury, saidThese pieces of my heart

Should cry and I stand apart

V

Maan

Bachchon pe chali goli

Maan dekh ke yeh boliYeh dil ke mere tukde

Yun royen mere hote

Mein dur khadi dekhoon

Yeh mujh se nahin hoga

Mein Dur khadi dekhunAur ahl-e sitam khelen

Khun se mere bachchon keDin-raat yahan holi


Maan dekh ke yeh boliYeh dil ke mere tukde

Yun royen mere hote


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Looking on from afarThis, I cannot do

* Spring festival played with coloured water

She walked came down to the groundLike lightening flashing around

The tyrants hand trembledFull of fear the gun frowned

Everywhere her echo did resoundI am hereby bound, I am coming for this

round

I am hereby bound, I am coming for thisround

Then oppression became evil

Panic-stricken were those who killWhen she thundered

As our children were murdered

She said, you vampiresGold is the be all of your desiresThis land belongs to us all

This land, you Dunces Esquires

Lackeys, still, to your British SiresThe sahibs beneficence

Has not made you landlords: squires

Desist from this tyrannyBack to your barracks, flee

You, who rove ahead

With a gang of plunderers you have bred

As our children were shot dead

Mein dur khadi dekhunYeh mujh se nahin hoga

Meidan mein nikal aayi

Ek barq si lehraiHar dast-e sitam kanpa

Bandooq bhi tharraiHar simt sada gunji

Mein aati hun, mein aayeeMein aati hun, mein aayee

Har zulm hua batil

Aur seham gaye qatilJab us ne zaban kholi


Us ne kaha khun-khwaro!Daulat ke parastaro

Dharti hai yeh ham sab ki

Is dharti ko naa-dano!Angrezon ke darbano!Sahab ki ata-kardah

Jagir na tum jano

Is zulm se baaz aaoBairak mein chale jao

Kyon chand luteron ki

Phirte ho liye toliBachchon pe chali goli

VI

The Garden Is A Bloody Mess

This poem is about the oppression in East

Pakistan in 1971

Our eyes yearn for greeneryThe garden is a bloody mess

For whom should I sing my songs of love

The cities are all a wilderness

The garden is a bloody mess

The rays of the sun, they stingMoonbeams are a killing field, no less

Deep shadows of death hover at every stepLife wears a skull and bone dress

All around the air is on prowl

With bows and arrows, in full harnessThe garden is a bloody mess

The battered buds are like a sieve

VI

Bagiya Lahoo Luhan

Haryali ko aankhen tarsen bagiya lahoo luhan

Pyar ke geet sunaoon kis ko shehar hue weeran

Bagiya lahoo luhanDasti hain suraj ki kirnen chand jalaye jaan

Pag pag maut ke gehre saye jeewan maut

saman

Charon ore hawa phirti hai le kar teer Kaman

Bagiya lahoo luhanChhalni hain kaliyon ke seeney khoon mein lat

paatAur nahjaney kab tak hogi ashkon ki barsaat

Dunya walon kab beeteinge dukh ke yeh din

raatKhoon se holi khel rahe hain dharti ke balwan

Bagiya lahoo luhan


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The leaves drenched in blood smearsWho knows, for how long

Well have this rain of tears

People how long do we have to bearThese days and nights of sorrow and distress

This oppressors blood bath is a frolicsomeplay

For the mighty of the world, a mark of theirprowess

The garden is a bloody mess

VII

God Is Ours

Addressed to religious hucksters of any

denomination and the system they defend translators note

God is not yours, to Him we have accessHe does not look kindly on those whooppress

How long, you men of pelf, will you bleed us

whiteGet off our backs, you who in filthy lucre

take delight

You satans it is dust that you will soon bite

We believe that He treats mankind withloving tenderness

He does not look kindly on those who

oppressLight of new wisdom we are going to see

A fire flares up, seeing our agony

In this new magical dawn will burst forth theblossoming tree

He brings hopes to those who are mired in

distressGod is not yours, to Him we have access


oppress

Well break the shadowy spell of fear and

dreadOnwards we will march, chains of despair

we will shredWell not betray the hopes of the people, our

dear kindred

And long we will remember this time ofduress


VII

Khuda Hamara Hai

Khuda tumhara nahi hai khuda hamara hai

Use zamin pe yeh zulm kab gawara haiLahoo piyoge kahan tak hamara dhanwano

Badhao apni dukan seem-o zar ke deewanoNishan kahin na rahega tumhara shaitanoHamein yaqeen hai ke insaan usko pyara hai

Khuda tumhara nahin hai khuda hamara hai

Use zameen pe yeh zulm kab gaawara haiNai shaoor ki hai roshni nigahon mein

Ek aag si bhi hai ab apni sard aahon mein

Khilenge phool nazar ke sahar ki bahon mein

Dukhe dilon ko isi aas ka sahara haiKhuda tumhara nahin hai khuda hamara hai

Use zameen pe yeh zulm kab gawara hai

Tilism-e sayah-e khauf-o hiras todengeQadam bandhayenge zanjeere-e yaas todenge

Kabhi kisi ke na ham dil ki aas todenge

Rahega yaad jo ehd-e sitam guzara haiUse zamin pe yeh zulm kab gawara hai


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oppressVIII

To Rakhshinda Zoya

13 April 1981, during a jail visit

She cannot say it, but thenMy little one manages to say

Father, come homeFather, come home

She cannot comprehend

Why, in prison, I continue to stayAnd not return with her, hand in hand

How should I explain to her

That home, too, is like a prison

Kot Lakhpat Jail

VIII

Rakhshinda Zoya Se

Keh nahin sakti par kehti hai

Mujh se meri nanhi bachchiAbbu ghar chal

Abbu ghar chalUs ki samajh mein kuchh nahin aata

Kyon zindan mein reh jaata hun

Kyon nahin saath mein uske chaltaKaise nanhi samjhaoon

Ghar bhi to zindan ki tarah hai

IX

On Iqbal Centenary

When we arise to wake the poor, the have

nots

A beeline to the police station they make,

these wealthy sotsThey say that God this wealth to them allots

Oh these trite excuses, oh these dusty plots

Night and day the working mens blood theysuck, o poet of the East

These congenital liars, with the vileness of a

beast

IXYaum-E Iqbal Par

Log uthte hain jab tere ghareebon ko jagane

Sab shehar ke zardar pahunch jaate hain thane

Kehte hain yeh daulat hamein bakhshi hai

khuda neFarsudah bahane wahi afsaane purane

Ai shair-e mashriq! Yehi jhute yehi bad zaat

Peete hain laoo banda-e mazdoor ka din raat

X

The Government of Jack Boots

If the dacoit had not hadThe village guard as his ally

Our feet would not be in chains

Our victory would not defeat implyMourn with turbans round your necks

Crawling on your bellies, comply

Once the jack boot government is up

Its hard, to make it bid good-bye

X

Bootan Di Sarkar

(Panjabi)Dakuan da je saath na dinda pind da pehredar

Aj paireen zanjeer na hund jit na hundi har

Paggan apne gal wich pa lo turo pet de bharChadh jaye te mushkil lehndi bootan di sarkar

habib jalib ten poems

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