Ibn-e-Safi's famous Urdu ghazal: Raah-e-talab mein kaun kisii kaa...

The most prolific Urdu fiction writer of the sub-continent, Ibn-e-Safi, was also a poet. He wrote poetry under the pen name Asrar Narvi.

Ibn-e-Safi's poetry is not commonly available though. Read his famous ghazal:

राह-ए-तलब में कौन किसी का, अपने भी बेगाने हैं
चाँद से मुखड़े,रश्क-ए-गिज़ालाँ, सब जाने पहचाने हैं

तन्हाई सी तन्हाई है, कैसे कहें, कैसे समझाएं
चश्म-ओ-लब-ओ-रुखसार की तह में रूहों के वीराने हैं

बिल-आखिर थक हार के यारो हमने भी तस्लीम किया 
अपनी ज़ात से इश्क है सच्चा, बाक़ी सब अफ़साने हैं 

उफ़ ये तलाश-ए-हुस्न-ओ-हकीक़त, किस जा ठहरें जाएँ कहाँ

सहन-ए-चमन में फूल खिले हैं, सहरा में दीवाने हैं 

इब्ने-ए-सफ़ी  

Now read the ghazal in Roman script:

raah-e-talab meN kaun kisii kaa, apne bhii begaane haiN
chaaNd se mukhRe, rashk-e-GhizaalaaN sab jaane pahchaane haiN

bil aakhir thak haar ke yaaro hamne bhi tasliim kiyaa
apni zaat se ishq hai sachcha, baaqi sab afsaane haiN

tanhaai sii tanhaai hai, kaise kaheN kaise samjhaayeN
chashm-o-lab-o-rukhsaar ki teh meN ruuhoN ke viraane haiN

uf ye talaash-e-husn-o-haqiqat kis jaa ThahreN, jaayen kahaan
sehen-e-chaman meN phuul khile haiN, sehra meN diivaane haiN

Ibn-e-Safi


[Note: Ibn-e-Safi was the master of detective fiction in India and Pakistan. Even after three decades of his death, umpteen publications regularly print in his Jasoosi Duniya and Imran series novels. He was a pioneer and also the last of his style. He penned nearly 240 novels, all of them best sellers.]