Maen Kal Naheen Rahina Poem by Shiv Kumar Batalvi

Listen, O my life,
I will not be here tomorrow.
Tonight, let us clutch a song tightly,
And claim its kiss.
Listen, O my life
I will not be here tomorrow.

The moonlight will not flower tomorrow,
Nor will bloom the champak.
Perfumes will not roam the garden
With uncovered head.
Nor like today
Will yielding branches
Bend to touch the earth,
Listen, O my life
I will not be here tomorrow.

The cranes will have scattered,
Flown far away.
By tomorrow, time, like a husband,
Will have carried off my pain.
No longer will flowers lie like jewels
Around the throat
Of the season tomorrow.
Listen, O my life
I will not be here tomorrow.

By daybreak the footprints on paths
Will not be traceable.
No longer will my songs sew a robe
True to separation.
Never will tears collect like this again,
Beneath the shadows of the past.
Listen, O my life
I will not be here tomorrow.

Not, like today, will we sit together again
You and I.
Not, like this, will will the sun rise tomorrow,
Nor, like this, will it set.
The bird of time
Will have collected
Every single grain of my breath.
Listen, O my life.
I will not be here tomorrow.
Tonight let us clutch a song tightly
And claim its kiss.