Kunal-e-Ishq

the poet of love.

[kunal-e-ishq]

Abhi bhi waqt hai, abhi bhi ‘tum’ ho, abhi bhi ‘hum’ hai.

There is still time, there is still you, there is still me, there is still us.

—Kunal-e-Ishq

[kunal-e-ishq]

What is lost? What is gained? Was losing everything the only truth of my fate?

—Kunal-e-Ishq

[kunal-e-ishq]

Be the one who gives me pain, and the cure for it too. Break my heart, then become its healing too.

—Kunal-e-Ishq

[kunal-e-ishq]

"This moment could stop, if you'd hug me close,

And we could drift away, far from the darkness this world holds."

—Kunal-e-Ishq

[kunal-e-ishq]

Percy shelley said:

“Music, when soft voices die, vibrates in the memory.”

But Kunal Ishq said:

Awaazein suni hazaaron, par sabse pyaari teri hai. Khil uthti hain galiyan bhi, jo sadiyon se andheri hai.

(“I’ve heard countless voices, yet yours is the sweetest; even streets dark for centuries begin to glow.”)

[kunal-e-ishq]

Ye jo bediyaan bandhi thi tune mujhko,

Aaja phir se laga jaa naa,

Ye jo zakhm bharne lage hai mere

Aaja phir se deja jaa naa,

Tanha zamaane mein khoya hoon main,

Tu apni ek jhalak dikhla jaa naa,

Tanhai hai teri maujooda zaat se,

Tu phir se ajnabi banke aaja naa.

The chains you once wrapped around me come back and fasten them again. These wounds of mine are beginning to heal… come back and reopen them. I’m lost in the loneliness of this world. Show me just one glimpse of you again. My loneliness comes from who you have become. Come back as a stranger again.

—Kunal-e-Ishq

[kunal-e-ishq]

Wo mohabbat ka shajar,

Aaj bhi hai jaese laazmi wahan pe.

Tera mera naam likhunga ek din,

Jab jaunga phir kisi kaam se wahan pe.

Paheliyaan thi wo bachpan ki tere saath,

Jake akele ab suljhaunga wahan pe.

Teri har yaad se tou baat karlunga,

Par tujhe kaese launga wahan pe?

That tree of love still stands there, like it’s meant to be. One day, I’ll carve our names into it when I wander there again. The riddles of our childhood I’ll unravel beneath its shade, and speak to every memory of you… But how do I bring you there again?

—Kunal-e-Ishq

[kunal-e-ishq]

“Duniya munafiqon se bhari hai Kunal, hum kahan kisi mukhlis ki mohabbat dhoond pate.”

The world is filled with two-faced people, how could I ever find someone who truly loves?

—Kunal-e-Ishq

[kunal-e-ishq]

Mohabbat sirf mohabbat nahi Kunal,

Mohabbat tou hai intezaar,

Tune samjha tha wo tujhe chahta hai?

Phir jab mudkar dekha tou kahan chala gaya tera dildaar?

Love is not just love, Kunal. Love is waiting. You believed they loved you, didn’t you? Then when you turned back, where had your beloved gone?

—Kunal-e-Ishq

[kunal-e-ishq]

“Umeed dard de rahi thi, maine lagani chhor di.

Usey ab meri baaton mein dilchaspi nahi rahi thi, maine bataani chhor di.”

Hope had started to hurt me, so I stopped holding onto it. They had stopped caring about my words, so I stopped speaking them.

—Kunal-e-Ishq

[kunal-e-ishq]

“Fursat ke palon mein tujhe yaad karta hoon ab, pehle tujhe yaad karne se fursat nahi milti thi.

Dil ke baagichey mein bhi hai ab ek ajeeb khushhali si, pehle tere bina jahan koi kali nahi khilti thi.”

Now I remember you in moments of spare time, once, I never had spare time because I was always remembering you. There is a strange kind of bloom in the garden of my heart now, once, not a single bud would open there without you.

—Kunal-e-Ishq, "The poet of love"

[kunal-e-ishq]

The heart’s pain does not grow any lighter,

No sorrow makes a difference to me now.

[kunal-e-ishq]

“Tu mujhe dard de, aur uss dard ki dawa bhi ban. Tu mera dil tod, phir wapis shifa bhi ban.”

Be the one who gives me pain, and the cure for it too, break my heart, then become its healing too.

—Kunal-e-Ishq, "Healers & Heartbreaks"

[kunal-e-ishq]

"No amount of poetry could have saved us, but I still wanted to write more."

—Kunal-e-Ishq, "The poet of love"

[kunal-e-ishq]

"She exists in my poems the way she exists in my life."

—Kunal-e-Ishq, "Zariya"

[kunal-e-ishq]

“Usne nazaron se hi kaesa jadoo hai kiya,

Pathar ko dil, rakh ko jaese phool kar diya.

Palkein uski, aankhon ke zewaron ki tarah,

Har jhapak ko unhone kaatilana kar diya.”

With just her gaze, what magic has she cast, stone became a heart, ashes bloomed into flowers. Her lashes are jewels upon her eyes, each blink turned deadly beautiful.

—Kunal-e-Ishq

[kunal-e-ishq]

“Dhoop mein uski zulfein zulf se zulf-e-ishq ban jaati hai,

Apne chehre ki chaanv se, kaesa woh ek haseen manzar dikhlati hai.”

Her hair in the sun becomes strands of love. The gentle shade her face provides shows a beautiful sight.

—Kunal-e-Ishq