आप की याद आती रही रात भर,
चाँदनी दिल दुखाती रही रात भर
(i missed you all night long, the moonlight hurt my heart all night long.)
गाह जलती हुई गाह बुझती हुई,
शम-ए-ग़म झिलमिलाती रही रात भर
(sometimes it burnt, sometimes it died, the lamp of grief flickered all night long.)
फिर सबा साया-ए-शाख़-ए-गुल के तले,
कोई क़िस्सा सुनाती रही रात भर
(the winds underneath the shadows of a flower-laden branch, told a tale all night long.)
एक उम्मीद से दिल बहलता रहा,
इक तमन्ना सताती रही रात भर
(my heart being coaxed by a hope, a desire troubled me all night long.)
✿
this nazm (a form of poem) by Faiz is written in remembrance and in honour of Makhdoom Mohinuddin after his death in 1969. Makhdoom was a revolutionary poet who was often compared to Faiz in their active years. this nazm is almost a copy of Makhdoom's original aapki yaad aati rahi raat bhar, carrying the same radeef and qaafiya.
Faiz's works have a quality of a double-edge to them; while you can love them as they are without knowing the context, you can truly feel the meaning with a contemporary lens. He never gave much emphasis on what his own meaning of his work is, often saying that his poems now belong to those who read them.