Mujhse Pehli si muhabbat mere mahbuub na maang

FAIZ AHMED FAIZ
Ask me not, my beloved, for our first love
I believed that if I had you, the world would shine eternally
If you were sorrowful, what mattered then the sorrows of the world?
From your beauty poured into the world an eternal spring
Beyond your eyes what is there to be seen in this world?

To have you would be to hold fate in my grasp
It was not as such; I fervently desired it to be so

The world knows pains besides those of love
There are joys besides the joys of our love

The dread spell of countless centuries
Draped in silk, satin, and gold brocade
In those streets and bazaars, everywhere bodies are sold
Besmeared with dirt, bathed in blood.

My gaze turns to there: what can I do?
Even now your beauty shines bright: but what can I do?

The world knows pains besides those of love
There are joys besides the joys of our love
Ask me not, my beloved, for our first love