Kal raat tanhaa chaand ko
Dekhaa tha maine khwaab mein
“Mohsin” mujhe raas aayegi
Shayad sadaa aawaargi”

The name Mohsin here refers to the poet who wrote this – Mohsin Naqvi. It was common practice to embed the poet’s name somewhere (usually towards the end) in the poem. Not terribly sure but perhaps it was a way of “stamping” or “copyrighting” the poet’s name.

Last night, I saw the moon
All alone, in my dreams
Mohsin, I think my happiness
Will always be in my vagrant ways.

(referring to the lonely but unchained life of a vagabond)

“Deep chhilo, shikha chhilo
Shudhu tumi chhiley na boley alo jollona
Bhasha chhilo katha chhilo
Kachhe daakley na boley mon katha bollo na”

The lamp was there, as was the wick
But without you, there was no spark of fire
Words were there, as was my voice
But without your beckoning my heart remained mute.

“Jo bhi dukh yaad na tha, yaad aaya
Aaj kya jaane, kya yaad aaya
Yaad aaya tha bichhadna tera
Phir nahin yaad ke kya yaad aaya.”

Roughly translated…(Avinash, care to take an alternate crack?)…

“All the forgotten sorrows, came back to me today
Who knows what all I remembered today
Memories flooded of your separation from me
I can’t remember what all I remembered after that”

Ghulam Ali singing Nasir Kazmi’s compositions..

“Main to aaj bahut roya hu,
Tu bhi shayaad roya hoga.
Mere chumey huye haathon se,
Auro ko khat likhta hoga”

Roughly translated (improvements welcome)..

“I have cried a lot today
Perhaps, you too cried a bit.
Those hands that were kissed by me
Must be writing letters to somebody else”

Tumhari awaz sun loon to
Mil jata hai sukoon dil ko
Mere ghamon ka ilaaj bhi
Kitna surila hai !!

(Source unknown)

“Tu shareek-e-sukhan naheen hai to kya
Hum-sukhan teri khaamoshi hai abhi”

Poet: Nasir Kazmi

Roughly translated…

“So what if you do not join me in a conversation?
Your silence is conversing with me right now“

… rendered unforgettable by Ghulam Ali

“Unke jamaal-e-rukh pe
Unhi ka jamaal tha
Woh chal diye to
Raunak-e-shaam-o-sahar gai…”

Roughly translated… improvements always welcome..

Her face was resplendent with
Her own lustrous glow
And when she got going
So did the beauty of the sunrise and sunset

… tumi tai go …”