On death.

Scary title, yes. Some of the most beautiful couplets have been written about life and death.
~
Gham-e-hasti ka Asad kisse ho juz marg ilaaj?
    Shama har rang mein jalti hai sehar hone tak.
~ 
Translates to:
The pain of existence cannot be cured but with death, Asad. A flame burns with every hue till it dies.

Another one, again Ghalib's goes like,
~
Qaid-e-hayaat-o-band-e-gham, asl mein dono ek hain,
    Maut se pehle aadmee gham se nijaat paaye kyun?
Dil hi to hai, na sang-o-khisht, 
    Dard se bhar na aaye kyun?
~
Means: Life is just a collection of concealed sorrows, and why should someone find comfort before death? It's only your heart, not an idol carved in stone. It'll fill with sorrow, why should it not?

Any talk of Ghalib's take on death isn't complete without the mention of these epic lines:
~
Huey mar ke hum jo ruswa, huey kyun na gharq-e-dariya?
    Na kahin janaaza uthta, na kahin mazaar hota
~
Ghalib says here,  "I wish I drowned in the ocean and died. At least I would be spared of coffins and tombs in death".

Faiz thinks of death as something that cleanses the self and those affected by it the most:
~
Jo hum pe guzri so guzri magar shab-e-hijran,
    Hamare ashq teri aaqebat sanwaar chale
~
This isn't really about death though. He says, "What I suffered I did no doubt, but on the eve of judgement, my tears will prepare you for your next life".

Zauq has a simpleton's view though:
~
Layee hayaat aaye, qazaa le chali chale,
    Apni khushi na aaye, na apni khushi chale
~
It goes: "Life brought me here, I followed. Death took me back I went. Reluctantly I came, reluctantly I left".

I don't want to sound like a pessimist/I am not depressed in life. These couplets are generally beautiful are they not? Mirza Nausha is a genius.

Divine Intervention?

I wrote the above post sitting on my bed. As soon as I published it, someone called my name and knocked on the door. I greeted them. My first reaction seeing their attire, was “Salaam!”. They asked if they could borrow some time, I obliged. They came in and started speaking in flawless Urdu. This gives me a terrible complex every single time something like this happens. Yes, and then they asked me if I was a believer. I said yes, although I’m not even remotely close to being religious. (In fact, a physical characteristic aside, Eid I think is the only thing that keeps me close to the Prophet).

Then they asked me what the most fundamental aim of my life was. I suppressed a laugh. Then shook my head. I don’t know, really. They said that the fundamental aim of my life (They knew the most fundamental aim of my life!) was to ensure that my life after death was a happy one. This life, they say, is transient, irrelevant. What matters is what comes after it. In their words, "What if we’re sent to hell? God forbid."

 They looked like nice innocent people though. They meant no harm whatsoever. They were doing their bit to secure box level seats in heaven, I don’t mind that. What I mind is the way they think my name is all there is to my identity. Isn’t it plain wrong? Stereotyping begins with names everywhere. I shouldn’t talk about stereotyping myself though, am I not the one who’s hinting at extremism at the hands of those who came to me today? For all I know, they could be peaceful people who just want another one they think belongs to them to come share the friendliness their gatherings have. Why do I look at them with suspicion, I wonder?

I get nauseous thinking of how they found me. They must have a list of names of my hostel inmates. They segregated similar sounding names of their interest out of the list and happily ran on the path of righteousness and came to me. After around 8 minutes of incomprehensible crap, they left me in peace. I told them I was an ardent worshipper and loved everything about my religion. (I wanted to show them the post I had just published).  Such a wonderful coincidence, I’m visited by the most profound believers on the same day that I write my first super blasphemous posts on the www.

~

Mir ke deen-o-mazhab ko kya poochhte ho unney to,
    Kashka khaincha, der mein baiTha, kab ka tark Islam kiya.

~

kashka=tilak, der=temple, tark=give up, deen-o-mazhab=religion, essentially. 

You must be thinking I like belonging to the elite group of those master poets who renounced their faith and realized how all of it was hoccum. 

I do. 

But this couplet came to my mind just like that. I don’t want to be Mir.

First post!

I hate hello world posts so I won't write one. Anyways this blog doesn't have much of a 'world' of people. :P
I recalled this couplet a moment ago, my father told me about it. We've tried our hardest but we couldn't trace the poet. If I find him, he'll be on my list of favorites immediately. Here's the couplet, if it rings any bells, please let me know:

Dekh in guzrey huey waqt ki mehraaboN mein, 
    Sar-nagooN baithey hain Aadam ke hazaaroN maabood;
Zehen-e-taskeeN magar de na saka, 
    Maramar-o-choub ke nakaara khudaon ka wujood.
~
Here, in the arches of the bygone era, sit headstones of humanities' numerous almighties. Alas, none of them could put our minds to rest, none of them useless and inefficient marble granite gods.
~

My posts will reek of blasphemy generally I think. I hope He does forgive me.

Milegi Sheikh ko jannat humein dozakh ata'a hoga?
    Bas itni si baat ke liye mehshar bapa hoga?

dozakh=hell, mehshar= the day of judgement
Poet unknown for this one too, sorry!