Malika: 30 Royal Urdu Poems for a Queen + Trans

Mohabbat kya hai, dil ka dard sehna,
Kisi ki yaad mein chup chaap rehna.
What is love? To endure the heart’s pain,
To remain silent in someone’s memory.
Teri chaahat mein hum ne kya na saha,
Zamaane bhar se bhi keh diya alvidaa.
What did I not endure in your love,
I even bid farewell to the entire world.

Dil-e-naadaan tujhe hua kya hai?
Aakhir is dard ki dawa kya hai?
O foolish heart, what has happened to you?
Ultimately, what is the cure for this pain?

Ik tera naam lete hi dil ko sukoon,
Mohabbat mein hai ajab sa fusoon.
Just by taking your name, the heart finds peace,
There is a strange magic in love.

Ishq woh aag hai jo lagaaye na lage,
Bujhaaye na bujhe, dil jalaaye rahe.
Love is that fire which, once lit, cannot be unlit,
Once extinguished, cannot be rekindled, it keeps burning the heart.

Tum se mil kar yeh jaana mohabbat kya hai,
Zindagi ka haseen taraana kya hai.
After meeting you, I learned what love is,
What the beautiful song of life is.

Teri soorat nigaahon mein phirti hai,
Yaad teri hamein tadpaati hai.
Your image wanders in my sight,
Your memory makes me restless.

Mohabbat mein nahin hai farq jeene marne ka,
Usi ko dekh kar jeete hain jis kaafir pe dam nikle.
In love, there’s no difference between living and dying,
We live by looking at the very one for whom we’d die.

Wafa ki baat karte ho, wafa kab ki tum ne?
Dil toda hai mera, jafaa ki tum ne.
You talk of faithfulness, when were you ever faithful?
You broke my heart, you were cruel.

Dil ki dhadkan ho tum, jaan-e-jaan ho tum,
Meri pehli aur aakhri mohabbat ho tum.
You are the heartbeat of my heart, the life of my life,
You are my first and last love.

Ishq qaatil se bhi, maqtool se humdardi bhi,
Yeh bata kis se mohabbat ki jazaa maangega.
Love sides with the killer, and sympathizes with the slain,
Tell me, from whom will it seek the reward of love?

Teri yaadon ke charaagh jalte hain,
Raat bhar hum yunhi machalte hain.
The lamps of your memories keep burning,
All night long, I toss and turn like this.

Mohabbat ka bharam rakha hai warna,
Tere waadon pe kaun jeeta hai.
I’ve maintained the illusion of love, otherwise,
Who lives on your promises?

Ik nigaah-e-karam, ik tabassum haseen,
Ishq waalon ki bas yahi hai talabein.
A glance of kindness, a beautiful smile,
These are the only desires of lovers.

Tumhein dil mein basaaya hai dhadkan ki tarah,
Ab zindagi hai tum se, ik aahat ki tarah.
I have settled you in my heart like a heartbeat,
Now life is from you, like a faint sound.

Woh jo kehte thay ishq mazaak hai,
Khud ishq mein mubtila ho gaye.
Those who used to say love is a joke,
Themselves fell in love.

Teri mohabbat ka asar hai yeh,
Har chehre mein tu hi nazar aaye.
This is the effect of your love,
I see only you in every face.

Mohabbat mein sauda nahin hota,
Dil de kar dil liya nahin jaata.
There is no transaction in love,
You don’t take a heart after giving yours.

Ishq ik waham hai, ya haqeeqat koi,
Jise paaya nahin, use khoya bahut.
Is love an illusion, or some reality?
The one I haven’t found, I have lost immensely.

Teri aankhon mein jo dooba, woh paar hua,
Ishq dariya hai, jis ka nahin kinaara hua.
Whoever drowned in your eyes, crossed over,
Love is a river that has no shore.

Kabhi fursat mile toh sochna zaroor,
Ik laaparwaah ladka teri parwaah kyun karta tha.
If you ever get a moment, do think,
Why did a careless boy care so much for you?

Mohabbat ki nahin jaati, mohabbat ho jaati hai,
Yeh woh shai hai jo dil mein khud hi bo jaati hai.
Love isn’t done, love just happens,
It is that thing which sows itself in the heart.

Tumhaare sheher ka mausam bada suhaana lage,
Main ek shaam chura loon agar bura na lage.
The weather of your city seems very pleasant,
I might steal an evening, if you don’t mind.

Dil mein tum ho, nazar mein tum,
Kaise bataayein, kidhar kidhar mein tum.
You are in my heart, you are in my sight,
How to tell, you are everywhere for me.

Ishq ki raah mein do hi manzilein hain,
Yaa dil mein utar jaana, yaa dil se utar jaana.
On the path of love, there are only two destinations,
Either to descend into the heart, or to fall from the heart.

Na jaane kaun si daulat hai tere lehje mein,
Tu bolta hai toh duniya khareed leta hai.
I don’t know what wealth is in your tone,
When you speak, you buy the world.

Hazaaron khwahishein aisi ke har khwahish pe dam nikle,
Bahut nikle mere armaan lekin phir bhi kam nikle.
Thousands of desires, each worth dying for,
Many of my desires were fulfilled, yet many remained.

Mohabbat faateh-e-aalam, magar khud haar jaati hai,
Kabhi majboor haathon se, kabhi taqdeer se.
Love conquers the world, but itself gets defeated,
Sometimes by helpless hands, sometimes by fate.

Tera khayaal bhi kya ghazab ka hai,
Zara kam aaye toh aafat, zara zyaada toh qayaamat.
Even the thought of you is so wondrous,
If it comes a little less, it’s a calamity; if a little more, it’s doom.

Ishq ne Ghalib nikamma kar diya,
Warna hum bhi aadmi thay kaam ke.
Love has made Ghalib useless,
Otherwise, I too was a man of worth.