Achhi soorat ko savarne ki zarurat kya hai?
Saadgi mein bhi qayamat ki adaa hoti hai
Tum jo aa jaate ho masjid mein adaa karne namaaaz
Tumko maloom hai kitno ki qazaa hoti hai?

This one is from Gulzar. We grew up listening a lot to this song. I think this was featured in a Hindi movie. (not an expert on Hindi movies – so not sure of it though)

Naam gum jaayegaa, 
Chehra ye badal jaayegaa,
Meri aawaaz hi pehchaan hai,
‘Gar yaad rahe

Roughly translated…

My name will be lost to your memory
And I will look very different too
But my voice will still be recognizable
Only if you are able to remember it

This one is from Mirza Ghalib:

Yeh na thi hamari qismat, ke wisaal-e-yaar hota
Agar aur jeete rehtey, yehi intezaar hota.

Yeh masaael-e-tasavvuf, yeh tera bayaan Ghalib
Tujhe hum Wali samajhte, jo na badaa khwar hota  

The translation is from Khuswant Singh. Other than the lines I marked with ##. Those two lines were not there in the version Khuswant translated.

To be united with the beloved was not writ in my fate,
Had I lived any longer, it would have been the same long wait.

I lived on your promises, I knew they were not true,
Would not I have died of joy had I believed in you?

Ask my heart about the pain of love and it will tell you
The half-drawn bow’s the assassin, not the arrow that pierces through.

To whom can I speak of sorrows that come with the fading of light?
Death would be welcome, if it did not stand at my door every night.

##Disgraced as I shall be in death, why not I drown in the sea?
##Fated, as I am to not have a funeral, nor a tomb erected for me. 

Your concern with mystic problems, Ghalib, your language is such
You could have passed off for a saint, had you not drunk so much.

This was is from Hakim Momin Khan Momin. Commonly referred to as “Momin”, the poet lived in Delhi and was contemporary to Mirza Ghalib.

“Woh jo humme tumme qaraar thaa
Tumhein yaad ho ke naa yaad ho
Wohi yaani vaada nibhaah kaa
Tumhein yaad ho ke naa yaad ho

Woh jo lutf mujh pe the beshtar
Woh qaram ke thaa mere haal par
Mujhe sab hai yaad zaraa-zaraa
Tumhein yaad ho ke naa yaad ho”

Roughly translated,
“The agreement that we had between us
Maybe you remember, maybe you do not
That promise of being together
Maybe you remember, maybe you do not

That joy that was always with me
That kindness that was bestowed upon me
Every bit of those memories are still with me
Maybe you remember, maybe you do not”

“Naye kapde badal kar jaun kahan
Aur bal banaun kis ke liye

Wo shakhs to shahar hi chhor gaya
Main bahaar jaaun kiske liye


Muddat se koi aaya na gayaa
Sunsaan padi hai ghar ki faza

In khali kamron mein ‘Nasir’
Ab shamma jalaun kis k liye”

The rendition for this evening was by Ustad Gulshan Mir – dad of the Noorani sisters.

“Unki nazron ne kuch aisa jadoo kiya
Loot gaye hum to pehli mulaqat mein
Sharaab seekh pe daali,
Kabaab sheeshe mein
Jo baat thi unko kehne ki
Wo baat hi kehna bhul gaye
Gairon ke fasane yaad rahe
Hum apna fasana bhul gaye”

Roughly translated…

“Her mesmerizing glance had this magic on me
I got devastated the first time I met her

(/*so discombobulated I was by her beauty that */)

I poured the wine on barbecue skewers
And served the meat in the chalice

What I was going to chat her up about
I completely forgot to bring up
I remembered to tell the stories of total strangers
But forgot to tell her my own story”

Meri nazar ko junoon ka payaam de saaqi
Meri hayaat ko laafani shaam de saaqi
Yeh roz roz ka peene mujhe pasand nahi
Kabhi na hosh mein aaun wo jaam de saaqi

To remind ourselves, “saaqi” refers to the (female) partner that is usually either pouring the drink or accompanying you in drinking.

Oh Saaqi! Give my eyes that vision of frenzy
Offer to my life that evening that dies, Oh Saaqi!
I am tired of this drinking every single evening
This time give me that drink that never gets me back to my senses.

From the pen of Fana Bulandshahari. The real name of the poet was Muhammad Haneef. He was born in Bulandshahar (in Uttar Pradesh in India) and derives his second name from that. Fana was the pen name he had adopted.

“Maine maana janaab peeta hoon
Bakhuda Behisaab peeta hoon
Log logon ka khoon peete hain
Main toh phir bhi sharaab peeta hoon

Zindagi ka azaab peeta hoon
Bann ke khana-kharaab peeta hoon
Roz-e-mehshar hisaab ho na sake
Is liye behisaab peeta hoon”

Better translations welcome…

“Agreed, your honor, I am given to drinking
By God, I drink without keeping any count
But other people drink others’ blood often
I am merely given to drinking alcohol

I drink to all the torments of my life
And I drink to my own ruin
Never knew how to count to the Day of Judgment
Never thus knew how to count while drinking