"nasir" poems
*Apni Dhun Mein Rehta Hoon
Main Bhi Tere Jaisa Hoon*
**Roaming within my own tunes I am
O’ just like you I am**
*Oh Pichhlee Rut Ke Saathi
Abke Baras Main Tanha Hoon*
**O’ friend of the past season
This year completely alone I am**
*Teri Gali Mein Sara Din
Dukh Ke Kankar Chunta Hoon*
**Whole day, in your street
Collecting the pebbles of sorrows I am**
*Mera Diya Jalaye Kuan
Main Tera Khali Kamra Hoon*
**Who will set my lamp alight?
O’ your vacated room I am**
*Apni Leher Hai Apna Rog
Dariya Hoon Aur Pyasaa Hoon*
**My own wave is the malady
Ocean I am and yet so thirsty I am**
*Aati Rut Mujhe Royegi
Jaati Rut Ka Jhonka Hoon*
**Coming season will weep for me
O’ breeze of the ending season I am**
— Translated by Jamil Hussain, Poet Nasir Kazmi, Sung by Ghulam Ali
Oct 26, 2016
Oct 26, 2016 at 8:23 AM UTC
written with Mohamed Nasir
please check him out he is such a talented peot
As I was young running underneath the shower
Droplets speckling my face Ike water freckles
I ran across the watery lane in the fountain of
My youth
I ran naked wet under the sprinkler's arches
Hooray! Hooray! Hooray! I shouted
Joyfully as Archimedes found truth and naked
He ran down the street of Athens
Eurica! Eurica! Eurica! He shouted
Then I heard someone call my name
And shake me up
"Get up," my mother said
"You wet your bed again," she said
I was dreaming in my wet dreams again
Nov 20, 2017
Nov 20, 2017 at 10:50 PM UTC
What Happened to Them?
by Nasir Kazmi
loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch
Those who came ashore, what happened to them?
Those who sailed away, what happened to them?
Those who were coming at dawn, when dawn never arrived ...
Those caravans en route, what happened to them?
Those I awaited each night on moonless paths,
Who were meant to light beacons, what happened to them?
Who are these strangers surrounding me now?
All my lost friends and allies, what happened to them?
Those who built these blazing buildings, what happened to them?
Those who were meant to uplift us, what happened to them?
NOTE: This poignant poem was written about the 1947 partition of India into two nations: India and Pakistan. I take the following poem to be about the aftermath of the division.
Climate Change
by Nasir Kazmi
loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch
The songs of our silenced lips are different.
The expressions of our regretful hearts are different.
In milder climes our grief was more tolerable,
But the burdens we bear today are different.
O, walkers of awareness's road, keep your watch!
The obstacles strewn on this stony path are different.
We neither fear separation, nor desire union;
The anxieties of my rebellious heart are different.
In the first leaf-fall only flowers fluttered from twigs;
This year the omens of autumn are different.
This world lacks the depth to understand my heartache;
Please endow me with melodies, for my cry is different!
One disconcerting glance bared my being;
Now in barren fields my visions are different.
No more troops, nor flags. Neither money, nor fame.
The marks of the monarchs on this land are different.
Men are not martyred for their beloveds these days.
The youths of my youth were so very different!
Nasir Kazmi Couplets
When I was a child learning to write
my first scribblings were your name.
―Nasir Kazmi, translation by Michael R. Burch
When my feet lost the path
where was your hand?
―Nasir Kazmi, translation by Michael R. Burch
Everything I found is yours;
everything I lost is also yours.
―Nasir Kazmi, translation by Michael R. Burch
Syed Nasir Raza Kazmi (1925-1972) was a renowned Urdu poet and playwright. His poetry continues to be used in Pakistan Television (PTV) shows and in Indian Bollywood films. Keywords/Tags: Nazir Kazmi, Urdu, translation, ghazal, couplet, love, pain, grief, melancholy, mrburdu
May 7, 2020
May 7, 2020 at 2:09 AM UTC
[ Translation of Ghazal
“Dil Mein Ek Lehar Si Uthi Hai Abhi”
Poet: Nasir Kazmi ]
Heart flutters –
with a new beat
A fresh breeze is on the move
An uproar in cavern-of-heart,
down goes
some wall
Fragile spirits
and now, a new scar
Foggy ghosts of forgotten isles
still –
echo your voice
Down the dark alleys
searching …
for you
Aug 11, 2020
Aug 11, 2020 at 9:23 PM UTC
8:38 AM
People erase mistakes
Dogs barking on the horizon
Time races
No mistakes allowed
17 towers
12:38 AM
Legal gray zones
Tax carousel
Time is pressing
Lion-faced players
AIs know the sound of breath
4:38 PM
In the night-colored Escalade
Heading toward concrete
Nasir crouched in a launch pit of scars
Eat, drink, sleep, and dress in riches!
Jealousy — let it go
8:38 PM
Streets renamed
New shops in splash-of-gossip colors
12:38 AM
Who’s got the clocks?
Who’s got the time?
4:38 AM
Stay alert for the oppers!
Shabba Ranks knows already
38
Sep 9, 2025
Sep 9, 2025 at 3:29 PM UTC