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Shofi Ahmed Apr 2017
At times I heard the songs of the giants
who opted to sing for a glass of wine!

Like Omar Khayyam would sing to the grove of vine,
while singing their lullabies they wouldn’t mind,
defying the bloomer stars in the moonlights
gladly treading on the black alleys of the night.
Didn't they budge, didn't they bend to pick up  
a potion of the sea, billowing in the dark?
But they opted out, just for a glass of wine!

To paint a glimpse of that gorgeous Saqi
till now they shun, lending the sun a paintbrush,
‘cause "if only it was colourful enough,” yet the sun
paints the enduring shades of the blue yonder.
But they turned around—just for a glass of wine!

The moon hanging low over the ocean took a pause.
The earth weighed down so deep is brimful!
Every sunrise paints new, loves to shine on once more
That delved-deep earth vintage taste, cooled in age-old,  
now close by the hands breathe in, full of warm south.
Yet they opted out—just for a glass of wine!

Even the time is speechless, ask me not but why.
Still keeps an ear bent on the wall of the leaning sky.  
Nor those who pop out with an inside scoop are ever drunk.
Nor they leak out, it’s a sea off the sea or Abe-Hayath.
It ain’t that small, it is the deathless spring of elixir!
Saqi
I yearn
To pluck these #stars
Out of their distant stupor
To hurl them
And watch them explode
In the immeasurable
Distance
I yearn
To thunder
My intentions
to rip down
mountainous curtains
I yearn
To make
Curvaceous inroads
And watch the
Majestic peaks
Bend to kiss the valleys
I yearn
To stride across
Universes and
dimensions
And bend destiny
To merge
My reality
in your presence
Saqi I warn you
Tonight I am restless
And I will not be accountable
For all that I profess
Through my drunk verses
And
For tomorrow's consequences
;-)
---------
#Saqionahigh
Seema Kj
©SeemaJayaraman
27 Apr 2020
JAMIL HUSSAIN  Oct 2016
The Door
JAMIL HUSSAIN Oct 2016
Unke Dar Pe Pahunchne To Paayein
Yeh Na Poocho Ke Hum Kya Kareinge
Sar Jhukana Agar Jurm Hoga
Ham Nigahon Se Sajda Kareinge

Once I reach the door
Spare me from asking what I will do
If blasphemous it is to prostrate my body
My gaze shall bow at the door


Baat Bhi Teri Rakhni Hai Saqi
Zarf Ko Bhi Na Ruswa Kareinge
Jaam De Ya Na De Aaj Hum Toh
Maikade Mein Sawera Kareinge

I am to keep your words too, O' Cup Bearer
And I cannot offend the cup
Whether or not you serve me tonight
I will meet my dawn at your door


Iss Taraf Apna Daman Jalega
Uss Taraf Unki Mehfil Chalegi
Hum Andhere Ko Ghar Mein Bulaakar
Unke Ghar Mein Ujaala Kareinge

Here, my life will be on fire
And there celebrations will begin at yours
I willingly invite the darkness to my abode
So that brightness may exist at yours


Baat Tarq-e talluq Bhi 'Anwar'
Itna Ehsaa- e-Rasm-e-Wafa Hai
Aakhiri Saans Tak Bhi Hum Unse
Berukhi Ka Na Shikwa Kareinge*

Even after renouncing our relationship O’ Anwar
I am to maintain the ritual of faithfulness
Even unto the last breath
Never will I complain of aloofness


— Translated by Jamil Hussain, Sung by Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan
Saqi, when love rains like sharpnels
Each droplet of molten metal
Scourges the vulnerable
Pour me your strongest, dyed of blood
Tend to these grooves of pulsating pain
I haven't yet had time to cover them up
Saqi, this rain of hurtling hail
Pebbles of denial cast my way
I take on my exposed heart
The most mature of your meads
Ambroise ancient from your curved pout
Bathe me with salvation of oblivion
Till pain and passion twine as one
Into antiquity this tale of love unrealized
- - - -
(c) Seema Jayaraman,30 Jul 2017
I had written a series of poems on 'Saqi', inspired by the mesmerizing role a Saqi plays in the life of a love lorn, mournful lover of yore....

— The End —