7 verses · ~1 min
ऐ मुँह मोड़ के जाने वाली, जाते में मुसकाती जा मन नगरी की उजड़ी गलियाँ सूने धाम बसाती जा
दीवानों का रूप न धारें या धारें बतलाती जा मारें हमें या ईंट न मारें लोगों से फ़रमाती जा
और बहुत से रिश्ते तेरे और बहुत से तेरे नाम आज तो एक हमारे रिश्ते मेहबूबा कहलाती जा
पूरे चाँद की रात वो सागर जिस सागर का ओर न छोर या हम आज डुबो दें तुझको या तू हमें बचाती जा
हम लोगों की आँखें पलकें राहों में कुछ और नहीं शरमाती घबराती गोरी इतराती इठलाती जा
दिलवालों की दूर पहुँच है ज़ाहिर की औक़ात न देख एक नज़र बख़शिश में दे के लाख सवाब कमाती जा
और तो फ़ैज़ नहीं कुछ तुझसे ऐ बेहासिल ऐ बेमेहर इंशाजी से नज़में ग़ज़लें गीत कबत लिखवाती जा
इति
The Poet
इब्ने इंशा
Ibn-e-Insha
1927 · 1978
Sher Muhammad Khan, immortalized under the pen name Ibn-e-Insha, was a literary wanderer who observed the world with a brilliant mix of deep melancholy and razor sharp wit. Born in 1927 in the Jalandhar district of Punjab, he migrated to Pakistan and became one of the most beloved Urdu poets and travelogue writers of his generation. His most famous ghazal Insha Ji Utho Ab Kooch Karo carries an overwhelming sense of world weariness and final departure, sung beautifully by generations of classical vocalists. Yet, alongside this intense sorrow, he authored travelogues filled with hilarious, biting satire that dissected human follies across the globe. He served in the United Nations, traveling extensively before his premature death in London in 1978. He remains the poet of the restless soul, wrapping profound existential grief inside breathtaking lyrical beauty.
Paired Painting
Urvashi
This poignant scene captures a fleeting moment from the eternal romance of the celestial nymph Urvashi and the mortal king Pururava. In a narrative steeped in longing, the painting depicts the ethereal Urvashi as she ascends back to the heavens, leaving her earthly lover behind. Raja Ravi Varma masterfully portrays the heartbreak of separation, freezing a moment where the physical laws of gravity seem to bow before the weight of divine sorrow. Her garment, caught in the hand of the bereft king, symbolizes the desperate, human attempt to hold onto something that belongs to the stars. It is a work that breathes with the melancholy of myth, reminding us of the profound divide between the mortal heart and the celestial domain.
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