By Parveen Shakir
Translated by Asad Khan

1.
Woh jaa chukaa hai
Magar judaai se qabl kaa
Ek narm lamha
Thehar gayaa hai
Miri hatheli ki pusht per
Zindagi mein
Pehli kaa chand bun ker

He is gone.
But a tender moment,
from when he was here
is stuck;
On the back of my hand
(and) in my life
like a crescent.

2.
Raks karte hue
Jis ke shaano.n pe tu ne abhi sir rakha hai
Kabhi me bhee is ki panaaho.n me thee
Faraq yeh hai ke me
Raat se qabl tanha hui
Aur tu subha tak
Is fareb-e-tahaffuz me khoyee rahe gee

while dancing,
the one upon whose shoulders you rest your head
i too was once in his safeguard.
the difference is that i
was abandoned before dark,
and you shall remain consumed in this false sense of security till dawn.

Parveen Shakir is one of the most popular Urdu poets of modern times. Shakir achieved fame while still a student of English literature at the University of Karachi.