Beyond ishq and romantic liaisons

Some times, a short verse can take one very far with the sheer depth of its message. Came across the above verse in Urdu that says:

ये लम्हे इश्क़ व मस्ती के कभी पाबंदी नहीं रहते

सदा ख़ुशियाँ नहीं रहती हमेशा ग़म नहीं रहते

ज़रा देख दरवाज़े पर दस्तक कौन देता है?

मुहब्बत हो तो कह देना यहाँ अब हम नहीं रहते ।

The above can be loosely translated as:

Times do not wait for love and fun

Neither joys nor sorrows are perpetual here;

Please see who is knocking at the door?

If it’s love, tell I no longer reside here!

This immediately brings to my mind the famous couplet by Faiz Ahmed Faiz that says:

The above Faiz’s all time popular couplet is loosely translatable as:

Love is not the only priority in life

Meeting a lover is not the sole agenda of life!

So while we all know about the romanticism associated with Urdu poetry, the aspect of practicality of things over and beyond romance and romantic liaison is equally pronounced and the impact of some of such verses could be very profound as one can experience in the couplet forming the basis of this blog.