आये उश्शाक़ गये वादा-ए-फ़र्दा (Aaye Ushshaaq Gaye Vaada-e-Fardaa) -- Allama Muhammad Iqbal

[Urdu Couplet #29]

आये उश्शाक़ गये वादा-ए-फ़र्दा लेकर 

अब उन्हें ढूंढ चिराग़े-रूखे-ज़ेबा लेकर 

Aaye ushshaaq gaye vaada-e-fardaa lekar

Ab unhe dhondh chiraage-rukhe-zebaa lekar 

Allama Muhammad Iqbal
(1877 - 1938)

उश्शाक़ (ushshaaq) = lovers; वादा (vaada) = promise; वादा-ए-फ़र्दा (vaada-e-fardaa) = promise to meet again (the word is usually used in the reference where the promises which are unfulfilled); ढूंढ (dhondh) = search; चिराग  (chiraag) = lamp; ज़ेबा (zebaa) = beautiful; चिराग़े-रूखे-ज़ेबा (chiraage-rukhe-zebaa) = light of the beautiful face

[English Meaning]

Lovers came and left making promises to meet again

Now go and search them in the light of your beautiful face

Notes: The couplet is from Iqbal's poem शिकवा Shikvaa. The central theme of the poem is the complaint of a distraught lover, who has been shunned by a disloyal beloved. The beautiful beloved's reason for rejecting him is the attention that she gets from other lovers. After expressing his resentment, the poet (or the distraught lover) uses sarcasm to mock his beloved for choosing temporary admirers over him. He ridicules her by saying her admirers come to spend time with her (a night with her) and in the morning they leave forever making a fake promise to return. The second sentence in the couplet is written on the lines of the idiom 'चिराग लेकर ढूंढना' 'chiraag lekar dhondh na' which means to search for something with great difficulty (in the dark). The poet uses the analogy between the chiraag (lamp) and his beloved's beautiful face to pass another caustic remark in the last line of this couplet. 

About the Poet

अलामा मुहम्मद इक़बाल Allama Muhammad Iqbal (popularly known only as Iqbal) is one of the most celebrated Urdu poets of all time. He was a prominent voice in the progressive writer's movement in pre-partition India. His contribution was not just in poetry but also in shaping the pre-partition political thought both in India and Pakistan. Apart from Urdu poetry, he is credited for writing the patriotic song 'सारे जहाँ से अच्छा हिन्दोस्तान हमारा' 'Sare Jahan se Accha Hindostan Hamara'. Read More