KarunaAdvanced

ख़ुद्दारियों के ख़ून को अरज़ां न कर सके

Khuddariyon Ke Khoon Ko Arzan Na Kar Sake

Sahir Ludhianvi

1 min read 6 versesSelf-respect Sorrow Love

6 verses · ~1 min

ख़ुद्दारियों के ख़ून को अरज़ाँ न कर सके हम अपने जौहरों को नुमायाँ न कर सके

होकर ख़राब-ए-मय तेरे ग़म तो भुला दिये लेकिन ग़म-ए-हयात का दरमाँ न कर सके

टूटा तलिस्म-ए-अहद-ए-मोहब्बत कुछ इस तरह फिर आरज़ू की शमा फ़ुरेज़ाँ न कर सके

हर शय क़रीब आ के कशिश अपनी खो गई वो भी इलाज-ए-शौक़-ए-गुरेज़ाँ न कर सके

किस दरजा दिल-शिकन थे मोहब्बत के हादसे हम ज़िन्दगी में फिर कोई अरमाँ न कर सके

मायूसियों ने छीन लिये दिल के वल-वले वो भी निशात-ए-रूह का सामाँ न कर सके

इति

Rasa: Karuna
Stanzas: 6
Lines: 12
Reading time: ~1 min
Form: Ghazal
Metre: ghazal
Rhyme: AA BA CA DA EA FA

The poem exudes a somber and melancholic atmosphere, defined by a crushing weight of resignation and the hollow remnants of lost dignity. A painting of this scene would depict a lone, weary figure sitting in the dim, flickering light of an extinguished candle amidst a desolate, grey landscape where once-vibrant colors have faded into monochrome. The shattered remnants of a glass lie discarded, symbolizing a fractured romantic vow and the failure to reconcile private sorrow with the harsh demands of existence. Ultimately, the work conveys a tragic and bleak tone, capturing the precise moment when the internal fire of hope has been permanently smothered by the heavy, suffocating shroud of despair.

ख़ुद्दारियों के ख़ून को अरज़ां न कर सके (Khuddariyon Ke Khoon Ko Arzan Na Kar Sake), by Sahir Ludhianvi runs to 12 lines across 6 stanzas, set as Six-couplet Ghazal structure.. Its governing rasa is Karuna, shaded by Shanta. The metre is ghazal. Rhyme falls as AA BA CA DA EA FA.

It belongs to the 1921 · 1980 span of Sahir Ludhianvi's working life, and keeps the plain, spoken register that period is known for.

Read it for स्वाभिमान की रक्षा और समझौता न करना and प्रेम और जीवन की असफलताओं का दर्द. 4 words in it carry older or regional senses, so the poem rewards a second pass.

The verse is hung beside Forsaken: Bathed in a heavy, contemplative stillness, the painting evokes a profound mood of loneliness, quiet melancholy, and internalized grief. Within a dimly lit domestic interior, a woman draped in a muted blue sari is…

Words worth pausing on

अरज़ाँ: सस्ता या मूल्यहीन
दरमाँ: इलाज या समाधान
फ़ुरेज़ाँ: प्रज्वलित या जलती हुई
निशात-ए-रूह: आत्मा की खुशी या आनंद

Threads

Self-respect Sorrow Love Despair

The Poet

साहिर लुधियानवी

Sahir Ludhianvi

1921 · 1980

Sahir Ludhianvi possessed a voice that refused to separate the agony of romance from the brutal inequalities of the world. Born Abdul Hayee in 1921 in Punjab, he adopted the pen name Sahir, meaning magician, and proved it entirely accurate through a lifelong mastery of Urdu poetry. As a prominent figure in the Progressive Writers Movement, he rejected the traditional obsession with the idealized beloved. Instead, he forced his readers to look at the poverty, the exploitation, and the hypocrisies of society that destroy love before it can even bloom. When he entered the Hindi film industry, he fundamentally changed the stature of the lyricist. Directors and composers adapted their music to his words, rather than the other way around. Through films like Pyaasa and Kabhi Kabhie, he brought profound literary dignity and fierce anti establishment critique to mainstream cinema. He passed away in 1980, but his poetry remains a burning torch. Sahir remains the ultimate poet of the disenchanted, a man who wrote beautiful verses to express an absolute refusal to accept an ugly world.