kahte hain umr-e-rafta kabhi lautti nahin ja mai-kade se meri javani utha ke la

tis said this fleeting life once gone never returns go to the tavern and bring back my youth again

safar pichhe ki janib hai qadam aage hai mera main budha hota jaata huun javan hone ki khatir

dil fasurda to hua dekh ke us ko lekin umr bhar kaun javan kaun hasin rahta hai

ab jo ik hasrat-e-javani hai umr-e-rafta ki ye nishani hai

meer taqi meer turns “desire for youth” into evidence of aging: you only miss youth when it is no longer yours. the couplet links present longing with past loss, making nostalgia itself a mark of time’s departure. the emotional core is quiet regret—feeling youth not as a memory, but as an ache that proves it’s gone.

vaqt-e-piri shabab ki baten aisi hain jaise khvab ki baten

in old age talk of youth now seems to be just like the stuff of dreams the poet expresses how distant and unreal the past feels when one reaches old age. recalling the vigor and energy of youth becomes a melancholic experience, as those memories seem so far removed from the current reality of frailty that they resemble a fleeting dream rather than actual life events.

piiri men valvale vo kahan hain shabab ke ik dhuup thi ki saath gai aftab ke

khamosh ho gaiin jo umangen shabab ki phir jurat-e-gunah na ki ham bhi chup rahe

rukhsat hua shabab to ab aap aae hain ab aap hi bataiye sarkar kya karen

piiri men shauq hausla-farsa nahin raha vo dil nahin raha vo zamana nahin raha

maut ke saath hui hai miri shadi so 'zafar' umr ke akhiri lamhat men dulha hua main

kahte hain umr-e-rafta kabhi lautti nahin ja mai-kade se meri javani utha ke la

tis said this fleeting life once gone never returns go to the tavern and bring back my youth again

safar pichhe ki janib hai qadam aage hai mera main budha hota jaata huun javan hone ki khatir

dil fasurda to hua dekh ke us ko lekin umr bhar kaun javan kaun hasin rahta hai

ab jo ik hasrat-e-javani hai umr-e-rafta ki ye nishani hai

meer taqi meer turns “desire for youth” into evidence of aging: you only miss youth when it is no longer yours. the couplet links present longing with past loss, making nostalgia itself a mark of time’s departure. the emotional core is quiet regret—feeling youth not as a memory, but as an ache that proves it’s gone.

maut ke saath hui hai miri shadi so 'zafar' umr ke akhiri lamhat men dulha hua main

vaqt-e-piri shabab ki baten aisi hain jaise khvab ki baten

in old age talk of youth now seems to be just like the stuff of dreams the poet expresses how distant and unreal the past feels when one reaches old age. recalling the vigor and energy of youth becomes a melancholic experience, as those memories seem so far removed from the current reality of frailty that they resemble a fleeting dream rather than actual life events.

talatum aarzu men hai na tufan justuju men hai javani ka guzar jaana hai dariya ka utar jaana

khamosh ho gaiin jo umangen shabab ki phir jurat-e-gunah na ki ham bhi chup rahe

ab vo piiri men kahan ahd-e-javani ki umang rang maujon ka badal jaata hai sahil ke qarib

piiri men shauq hausla-farsa nahin raha vo dil nahin raha vo zamana nahin raha