Aaj Janey ki zid na karo

(This Ghazal has a strong link with Calcutta in a strange way. The poet Fayyaz Hashmi was born in Calcutta in 1920. He lived in Hayat Khan Lane until the tumultous days of partition in 1947 when the family left for Lahore in Pakistan. The ghazal was immortalized by the Queen of Ghazals Farida Khanum who was also born in Calcutta in 1935)

Aaaj jaane ki zid na karo

by Fayyaz Hashmi

Insist not on parting to-night

Be in my arms.

Please do not persist on leaving.

Is there any point in uttering such inane words as, “I am shattered-or I shall perish?”

Just pause and ponder for a brief moment, dear :

Why should I not try my best to prevent you from going?

Do you not know that every time you prepare to depart, I swear, my Beloved

The light of my life blows out like a candle in the wind.

Oh please, please listen to me.

Be not obstinate tonight and insist on leaving.

Life is enchained in the prison of time.

Just a few precious moments have escaped from its clasp.

By squandering them my Beloved

You will repent for a lifetime.

Oh do not insist on parting tonight

Just be close to me.

The weather is magnificent

In its innocent beauty and resplendent colors---

Only the kingdom of Beauty and Love reigns tonight!!!

Who cares about tomorrow?

My Beloved

Let us preserve the precious hours of what remains of this night

Insist not on parting.

(Translation: Roopen Roy-I gratefully acknowledge help from my friend in Pakistan :Muhammad Azfar Ahsan)