Kashmakash

irade bandhta hun sochta hun tod deta hun kahin aisa na ho jae kahin aisa na ho jae

iman mujhe roke hai jo khinche hai mujhe kufr kaba mere pichhe hai kalisa mere aage faith restrains me while i am tugged at by heresy behind me stands the mosque, the church in front of me ghalib describes a profound spiritual crisis where he is torn between religious duty and the seduction of the forbidden. standing between the kaaba (symbolizing established tradition) and the church (symbolizing the exotic or iconoclastic object of desire), he feels the tension of leaving his faith behind while being irresistibly drawn toward a new, perhaps sacrilegious, path.

ishq bhi ho hijab mein husn bhi ho hijab mein ya to khud aashkar ho ya mujhe aashkar kar allama iqbal portrays a world where both the seeker’s love and the sought-after beauty remain veiled, so true encounter cannot happen. the speaker pleads for clarity: either the beloved/truth should manifest openly, or the speaker’s inner self should be unveiled. the ‘hijab’ symbolizes barriers of perception, ego, and confusion. the emotional core is restless yearning for direct vision and self-recognition.

mujhe bhi lamha-e-hijrat ne kar diya taqsim nigah ghar ki taraf hai qadam safar ki taraf

zabt karta hun to ghutta hai qafas mein mera dam aah karta hun to sayyaad khafa hota hai

sawal karti kai aankhen muntazir hain yahan jawab aaj bhi hum soch kar nahin aae

sar mein sauda bhi nahin dil mein tamanna bhi nahin lekin is tark-e-mohabbat ka bharosa bhi nahin the speaker insists he feels neither obsession nor desire, as if love has ended. but he doubts his own “renunciation,” sensing that feelings can return or are merely hidden. the couplet captures the tension between outward calm and inner uncertainty. it exposes how hard it is to be sure that love has truly been left behind.

ye kis azab mein chhoda hai tu ne is dil ko sukun yaad mein teri na bhulne mein qarar

shauq kahta hai pahunch jaun main ab kabe mein jald rah mein but-khana padta hai ilahi kya karun

hai ajab si kashmakash dil mein 'asar' kis ko bhulen kis ko rakkhen yaad hum

ye sochte hi rahe aur bahaar khatm hui kahan chaman mein nasheman bane kahan na bane i kept contemplating, spring came and went away where in the garden should i make my nest today

idhar se taqaza udhar se taghaful ajab khincha-tani mein paigham-bar hai

phadkun to sar phate hai na phadkun to ji ghate tang is qadar diya mujhe sayyaad ne qafas

tum se milna bhi hai milna bhi nahin hai tum se aao tum se sar-e-bazar kahin milte hain

bol kis mod pe hun kashmakash-e-marg-o-hayat aise aalam mein kahan chhod diya hai mujh ko

kashmakash dil mein hai ye barson se aas kis ki hai yas kis ki hai