Khushnaseeb

In this nazm, Faiz Ahmed Faiz looks at those who were truly fortunate. They treated love as their real work, or they loved their work so deeply that it became a kind of romance.

Then he turns to his own life. He admits he stayed busy to the very end, giving a little to love and a little to work. Work kept getting in love’s way, and love kept tangling up the work. Finally, worn out, he left both unfinished.

It’s one of Faiz’s most honest poems. There’s no grand declaration in it, just the quiet ache of a life divided between what we love and what we must do. Anyone who has tried to balance a passion and a job will recognise it.

kuchh ishq kiya kuchh kaam kiya
vo log bahut ḳhush-qismat the
jo ishq ko kaam samajhte the
ya kaam se ashiqi karte the
ham jite-ji masruf rahe
kuchh ishq kiya kuchh kaam kiya.