Karachi Where Light Is Dead Poem by Akhtar Jawad

Khuloos-o-mehr mite dosti ko maut aai,
Yeh kaisi aag lagi roshni ko maut aai.
Woh kaun tha woh kahan ka tha bolta keya tha,
Keya itna kafi nahin aadmi ko maut aai.
Main rahggeer tha ek bezarar sa shahri tha,
Main kab mara hoon meri bebasi ko maut aai.
Woh barson sath raha nam tak na poocha kabhi,
Mere pados men ek ajnabi ko maut aai.
Tu qatl karne chala tha to mar raha tha khud,
Tu baz aaya agar khudkushi ko maut aai.
Na jane kaun kahan paye tere lasheh ko,
Yeh koi bhi ho utha aadmi ko maut aai.
Woh jazba jisse haseen lag raha tha aaina,
Kahan geya ke meri dilkashi ko maut aai.
Akhtar Jawad

Translation

Sincerity and hospitality has been eliminated,
Friendship is dead,
What a fire is it the light is dead!
Who was he? Wherefrom he came? What language he spoke?
Isn’t it enough a man is dead!
I am a pedestrian, a harmless citizen,
It’s not me; my helplessness is dead!
For many years he was my neighbor,
I never asked his name,
In the house adjacent to mine a stranger is dead!
When you went for a homicide, you were dying,
You changed your mind your attempt of suicide is dead!
Who knows where your dead body will be found by whom,
Whoever he may be pick up his body, a man is dead!
The feeling due to which the mirror was beautiful,
Has been lost somewhere, my beauty is dead!