This poem was translated by Professor Carlo Coppola as part of the MULOSIGE Translations project. You can explore our collection of Urdu Poetry here.
Āj kī rāt nah jā / Do Not Leave Tonight
Tonight has come after many nights,
After much delay and from far off—but it has come.
The overflowing cup will reach the marble hands of dawn;
Night will break; the message of light will come.
Do not leave tonight.
.
Life is a pleasure as well as suffering;
It is a musical instrument, a melody, as well as the rattling of chains,
The object of sight as well as the yearning for sight,
Poison, as well as the life-water of lips and cheeks,
The gibbet, as well as the beloved.
Do not leave tonight.
.
Tonight has come after many nights.
How happy this night! How promising the dawn!
The glance of your love is for me.
Do not leave tonight.
.
From: Bisāt̤-i raqṣ (Dance Carpet). Ḥaidarābād, Inḍiyā: Istiqbāliyah kameṭī jashn-i Mak̲h̲dūm, 1966. pp. 137 – 38
Āj kī rāt nah jā is quoted in full in Urdu Poetry, 1935-1970
Tonight has come after many nights,
After much delay and from far off—but it has come.
The overflowing cup will reach the marble hands of dawn;
Night will break; the message of light will come.
Do not leave tonight.
.
Life is a pleasure as well as suffering;
It is a musical instrument, a melody, as well as the rattling of chains,
The object of sight as well as the yearning for sight,
Poison, as well as the life-water of lips and cheeks,
The gibbet, as well as the beloved.
Do not leave tonight.
.
Tonight has come after many nights.
How happy this night! How promising the dawn!
The glance of your love is for me.
Do not leave tonight.
.
From: Bisāt̤-i raqṣ (Dance Carpet). Ḥaidarābād, Inḍiyā: Istiqbāliyah kameṭī jashn-i Mak̲h̲dūm, 1966. pp. 137 – 38
Āj kī rāt nah jā is quoted in full in Urdu Poetry, 1935-1970
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