Artist, I have come to return your masterpiece.

In those colourful cheeks now increase the thin paleness;

In the bashful glances augment the fearlessness a bit;

Make the moist wrinkles of the lips tired, languishing.

Brighten the forehead with the reflection of the heart’s burning;

Add some seriousness to the smiling face;

Lower the height of these breasts;

Trim away the thick hair, but add to it a glimmer.

Take away the dignity of her eyes, but add the taste for helplessness.

But, indeed, make her sit upon a sofa instead of a bench; 

Here—instead of with me, show her with a shining car.

.

From: Talk̲h̲iyān̲ (Bitternesses). Dihlī: Panjābī Pustak Bhanḍār, 1963. pp. 19 – 20

Shāhkār is quoted in full in Urdu Poetry, 1935-1970