Eternity

And on this path, there befell whatsoever befalls always,
Why lament over it, and why accuse.
And however it came, when oblivion came
Either as an avenger or the aspect of love
This is how we must say adieu.
The sore of heart have gone to their peace, God be praised!
And the sweetness of the lips endures yet, Thank the Lord!
The blessed sleeping the sleep of the blessed
The wanderer taking the pathways once more.
My secret longings,
My dreams and my passions
All the dreams and all the passions which had lived for you
Fail to find the life anew.
Like a song without words,
This neither begins nor ends.
This is eternity.

Sobia Ehsan (NUST, Islamabad)
September, 2012

P.S.: I miss you Abu Ji

Aik Khat

Buhat muddat nahi guzri
Humaray rabt ko tootay huay
Sadian nahi beetien
Tumharay khat ko parhtay he
main pehlay say xiada muztrib, be-chain hoti thi
Tumharay qalm ki jadoogari
tumharay zehn k sb naqsh lafzo'n main smoti thi
Musalsal piyar ki qasmain;
Aadhay adhooray vasl k vaday;
main hr dam khojti rehti;
her aik ik lafz ka mafhoom
khud say poochti rehti.

Magar ye khat!
k is kaghaz k tukray pr
siwaye nam k meray
tumhain kuch bhi nahi soojha.
Ye kitna khoobsurat hay!!


Swaiba EA

Travelling Experience

This is one of my dream travelling. I am going home by train. What a journey. I am cherishing this moment alone. Though it was not supposed to be like this. Still I am happy to do it alone because I am no more in limbo. I have started to live my own. Life is like this. Time didn’t stop for my grief or this world. Life is too short to wait for someone. Especially when one knows that nothing can happen now. Decisions were made in heavens that we were not to unite. It’s almost one year we talked softly to each other. Still he is living in me. Every moment he is in my mind. He made me to dream a lot. I was always outrageous but not such practical. Now one can call me seasoned. 

This is so beautiful. Everything is neat as it rained most of the province. Sky is still cloudy. This is upper class AC parlor. Nonstop rail car from Islamabad to Lahore 700 am. Two executives are sitting next to me. Three ladies are travelling to visit their relatives in Lahore. A gang of university guys and gals is sitting behind. I can listen their chit chats and cutting jokes on each other. Railway has served the breakfast. I haven’t done with it but I think its bread and butter. The train has passed through a tunnel and now its banjar all around. It’s a nice beginning. But I don’t know what would be the end. The memories are going to kill me. But I such a dheat that I’ll keep on living. We watched Ijazat last night. Meray dil main itna dard hay k bass. Yeh wapsi ka sfr hmesha he bra kathan hota hay. Allah asaani kray.Amen!

Blue Dust

A green breeze sweeps us up,
In slow mornings of dazzling jasmine
Waking us to red grass
Sliding beneath our feet.

We live in the shade,
You and I
The cold white light between us.

Allama Iqbal Int. Airport, Lahore

Pehli Barish

main ne jab likhna seekha tha
pehlay tera naam likha tha
main wo sbr-e-sameem hoon jis ne
baar amanat sr pe lia tha
main wo ism-e-azaam hoon jis ko
jinn-o-malak nay sajda kia tha
tu nay kion mera hath na pakra
main jb rastay say bhatka tha
jo paya hay wo tera hay
jo khoya wo bhi tera tha
tujh bin sari umr guzari
log kahain gay 'tu mera tha'
pehli barish bhejnay walay!
main teray darshan ka piyasa tha
........................

tanhai ka dukh gehra tha
main drya drya rota tha
aik he lehr na smbhli warna
main toofanoN se khaila tha
tanhai ka tanha saya
dair se meray sath laga tha
chorr gaye jb saray sathi
tanhai ne sath dia tha
sookh gayi jb sukh ki daali
tanhai ka phool khila tha
tanhai main yad-e-Khuda thi
tanhai main khouf-Khuda tha
tanhai mehrab-e-ibadat
tanhai mimber ka diya tha
tanhai mera pa-e-shikasta
tanhai mera dast-e-dua tha
wo jannat meray dil main chupi thi
main jissay bahar dhoond rha tha
tanhai mere dil ki jannat
main tanha hoon, main tanha tha


By Nasir Kazmi

Vasl OST

Vasl OST

Swaiba EA

November 12, 2011 · Lahore · 

Packing for tomorrow. A senior has just advised me not to forget my dreams here. How sarcastic! "...aur han ye apnay khwab bhe khayal say samait k rakh lena, yahan reh gaye tu akialay mar jaiengay. aur tumharay pas khwab na huay tu dr jao g"

Autumn shades

Thanatopsis

So live, that when thy summons comes to join
The innumerable caravan which moves
To that mysterious realm where each shall take
His chamber in the silent halls of death,
Thou go not, like the quarry-slave at night,
Scourged by his dungeon; but, sustain'd and soothed
By an unfaltering trust, approach thy grave,
Like one who wraps the drapery of his couch
About him, and lies down to pleasant dreams.


Sobia Ehsan
31 Oct 2011 - Public (Google+)

Excerpted from Thanatopsis by William C. Bryant

Dreamer's Diary

And if I say, “To live means to desire”, this is purely my idea of living. You may relate living with food and clothing; others may term it as breathing. More elaborating “the desire”, is to think beyond the possibilities, leaving far behind the idea of time and space, the traditions, the norms. Believing in dreams as they are truly what happens in one’s life. Even life itself is a dream unless we woke up by the kick of death. Then we enter the world that is real without illusions. I am specifically concerned with the series of tiny dreams within the bigger dream of entire life. If one dream is shattered, try another. Rocked again? No matter, dream something new. No need to harness these desires. Dreamers can’t be tamed. Right now, knowing for the first time about the Trans-Siberian railway, one of the longest railways in the world, and passes through seven different time zones, ignites another desire deep inside my heart. May be tomorrow when I share it with my peers, they’ll burst into laughter and comment that why I always think of impossible things. Thousands of dreams shared with them and thousand ten times they have given same comments. But who knows the sacred light of conviction is still burning secretly inside of me. Believing that my dreams are guided by divine power, the supreme authority, Allah (SWT), I keep them adding to my bucket list. Praying, planning and trying hard to achieve them. Still I am not sure, I will be really happy, if I get them done. When time and fate doesn’t allow me to fulfill any of my dreams I transfer it to another list- the things I want in life after death. To no surprise the later is getting longer. Being very hopeful, I am very much certain to cherish them fully, if I get them when I wake up.

4AM

Islamabad