Punjabi Poetry

Aaj di Heer kithe guachayi,

Ranjha labke na nigah vich aayi,

Soni dhoob ke phir na jammi,

Mahiwal di udeekan hai bas lambi.

Hon ehi daso kaun reh si baaki,

Jinu ishq di kadar, pyaar di saaki,

Pak jeda rooh, auno mera sar,

Aaj di Laila Majnu tah hoye faraar.

Aaj di Heer nu lagi nashe di aadat,

Ranjhe nu maya di pehgi zahmat,

Soni ne dilan di behziti kiti,

Mahiwal nu hawas di thiai hi piti.

Hon ehi sunao main naa kive jora,

Napaak de naal, Rab to manga vichora,

Lehran vich SoniMahiwali nahi tarde,

Bekadaran di chaki vich au sab hi saarge.

By Sundeep Singh Maan

English translation:

Today's Heer is lost somewhere,

Ranjha I searched for but could not find,

Soni drowned never again to be born,

Mahiwal I seek forever, the wait forlorn.

So tell me now who is left,

Who values love, the merchant of amour,

That soul that is pure, awaits only me,

Today's Laila Majnu deserted for sure.

Today's Heer intoxicated with liquor,

Ranjha mad with greed for money,

Soni shamed many hearts,

Mahiwal consumed by the thirst of lust.

So tell me now how do I join my name

With the immoral, from God I seek distance,

In waves SoniMahiwal no longer swim,

In the grind of unfaithfulness, they all rot.

Aaj assi mil na saake

Aaj assi mil na sake,

Kal da ki barosa,

Par eh yakeen tah jaroor hega,

Ke kithe naa kithe, milna kismat vich tah hoga.

Jad mee da boond bhegayi, main us boond de vich hazir honga,

Tere chaam teh dig ke tere masam vich chupna,

Yah phir vagdi hawa vich, jo tere kes nu uda denda,

Main phoolan di patti banke, tere baalan vich saun jana.

Jado kaaliyan raatan vich, tu mombatti jagana,

Main parwana baanke, usdi loh nu chunnaa .

Yah fir tere jakhm toh jeri lauh dulda,

Aus lauh di vich, main pehl ke baar auna.

Jado pipiyee di pioo ambar vich wajana,

Us chek di vich main rachya hona,

Yah phir jado mitti jal tere bullan nu chumnaa,

Main auhi mithas vich baanke auna.

Jad hath de uthe pehi dunghi mendhi,

Paave kisi aur di hove, aus rang di vich main rachiya hona.

Yah jado tu jag vich nahi zindagi nu jamna,

Main udhe vich peda hoonga.

Jado maut aake tenu audhe giraft vich lega,

Teri masan vich main sutha pena.

Yah jado tu swarg vich ghisarna,

Main badal baanke tere pairaan tahle rehna.

Aaj assi mil na sake,

Kal di ki barosa,

Sau baar bicharke par,

Ik baar tah sanu milna hoga.

By Sundeep Singh Maan

English Translation:

Today we could not meet,

Who can trust tomorrow,

But believe we must,

That somewhere, someday fate will bring us together.

When a drop of rain falls, I will be within that droplet,

Falling upon your skin, I will hide within your pore,

Or when the blowing wind runs through your hair,

I will come as a petal, and sleep within your tresses.

When on dark nights, you light a candle,

I will come as a moth and touch its light.

Or when blood seeps from your wounds,

From that blood I shall pour out.

When the bird chirps in the sky,

In its song I will live,

Or when the sweet water touches your lips,

I will live within that nectar and arrive.

When deep mendhi adorns your hands,

Even if it belongs to another, I will be embedded within its colour.

Or when you bring a new life into this world,

I will take birth within it.

When death comes to take you in its hold,

I will be asleep within your ashes,

Or when you glide through heaven,

I will become a cloud and stay under your feet.

Today we could not meet,

Who can trust tomorrow,

We may part one hundred times,

But at least once we will have to come together.

Ik Daali - S.S.Maan

Ik daali teh chiri baithi si,

Main daali nu hilaya, usno daraya,

Chiri chekdi, ve pardesiya,

Main ithe bethi tenu milan li.

Maar udaari, main usno kendha,

Tu begani ithe, tera chirkna fazool,

Chiri rondi, pank nu watt laake,

Main daar chadi aayi tere vaaste,

Main murke jado dali kol langiya,

Chiri mere nigha toh hoi door,

Ambar vich main kholgayi chiri gaundi,

Ithe payi adar, kuli meri rooh

Mur aa chiri main uno kendha,

Phir dali teh bait main tenu daane kilama,

Dharti teh baithi audo tenu kadar nahi si,

Ambar vich sajgi tah aaya tera bulaava.

English translation:

A bird was perched upon a branch,

I shook the branch, to put her to fear

The bird chirped, oh stranger,

I sat here to meet only you

Fly away, I tell her

You don’t belong here, your chirping a waste

The bird cries, creases her wings,

I left my flock only for you

When I pass the branch again,

The bird is no longer in my sight

I am one with the sky, she sings

Here I find respect, my soul open

Come back bird, I call out

Sit on the branch again I will feed you,

On the ground you could not care,

Now I adorn the sky, you call out for me

main gali gali labda phira, pahaaran charke feh bhi na mila,

main mandir, masjid, gurdware nu jaava,

main taarayan di loh vich apni chaaha nu likhava,

main labiya samundro, main takdha reh raaha,

main sochan ke au vasda vich teriya baahan,

main teerat teh jaake, sarovar vich doob jaava,

main bachpan di kehde vich shayad auno paava,

main maa di chaa vich apne aap nu sulava,

main mitran di gaalan vich au dard nu puljaava,

main labiya heere motiya vicho, main chadiya maya di pukh picho,

Par ant vich eh pata tah hoya,

Ke mere andaroo au gaal vasda, haje tak si soya...

S.S.Maan

Translation

I searched every lane, climbed mountains but did not find it,

I visited mandirs, masjids and gurdware

I write my desires under the light of the stars

I searched every ocean, I awaited those paths,

I thought perhaps it lives within your arms,

I go on pilgrimages and drown in holy water,

I search for it in the games of my childhood,

I put myself to rest in the shade of my mother,

I forget my pain in the words of friends,

I look for it in diamonds, I left behind my greed of wealth

But in the end I come to realise,

That it lives within me, yet it is sleeping...