Poem

Sinking deep, I stirred the tide,
Not to flee, but let one ride.
If not my breath that reached the shore,
Another soul might rise once more.

Why curse the night for being still,
When light was ours to shape the will?
One quiet flame, though doomed to fade,
Could still have touched the dark we made.

© Irfan Suhrawardy.

شاید!

Maybe the heavens remember what we’ve forgotten,

Perhaps time doesn’t move — it listens.

Possibly, we are echoes from a dream the cosmos once whispered,

And maybe, in the stillness between two breaths,

We find the fragments of who we truly are.

© Irfan Suhrawardy.

Change

The selfish, intolerant, indifferent air—

Was no more there, it vanished fair.

As it ought to, so snaily, so dim,

Fading away at the twilight's brim.

Not some, but many walked its thread,

In untailored ways, where silence led.

To find the depth of what it meant,

And shield their souls from sly intent.

The heights it gained, looked weak,

Feeble, plain, and soft to speak.

But therein lay its veiled might—

Not born in day, nor grown in night.

It was a process, slow and wide,

A swelling tide one could not guide.

It asked not much, just patience still,

And hearts prepared for time to fill.

Some felt it as a silent shore—

The deadly hush before the roar.

© Irfan Suhrawardy.

کیوں؟

“Why?”—a word so small,

yet it unravels the vast unknown.

Not all echoes seek answers;

some just linger to be heard.

The soul moves in patterns thought can’t trace,

and silence often speaks what language cannot.

Reason hides where feeling leads,

and sometimes, not knowing is the knowing.

© Irfan Suhrawardy .

Almost, Unmade

They passed—unspoken.

A breath in silk.

Eyes. Lost to shadows,

shadows where I once lived.

Familiar footsteps

on unfamiliar ground.

The scent of memory

brushing the edge of my skin.

And in that silence?

A fire stirred.

Not loud. Not wild.

But familiar.

Forbidden.

Slow.

And sweet.

©Irfan Suhrawardy 

Escape!

I yearn to journey forth,

Through time's unyielding flow,

Until naught remains,

Neither he, nor she,

Not even you,

A realm distant, ethereal,

And still more remote,

Not only traversing woods,

But venturing further still.

Not along the shores,

Abuzz with cresting waves,

Nor within the verdant meadows,

Alive with joyful chirps.

Away from the ocean's depths,

Where elusive creatures creep,

And the rugged hills persist,

Where life finds its foothold.

Through the encompassing nights, I toiled,

Days surrendered to tranquil slumber,

Until I arrived at last,

The Sanctified Cove.

Beyond the vanished,

A future concealed from sight,

Everything cloaked in subtlety,

Yet there I stood ever present.

© Irfan Suhrawardy. All rights reserved.

Escape

I want to go.

All the while 

Till there is none.

Nor he, nor she, 

Not even You. 

A place far away. 

And farther away, 

Not just woods ,

But still beyond. 

Not along shores, 

Buzzing with waves,

Or lush meadows, 

Buzzing with chirps. 

Not in the oceans, 

Where creatures creep. 

Or still rocky hills,

Where life does subsist. 

I toiled through nights, 

And slumbered in days. 

Till I reached 

The Holy Cove. 

Past all gone. 

Future not in sight. 

Everything subtle .

But yet and, still, 

There I was!

© Irfan Suhrawardy. All rights reserved,

Gazal

Darenche dil e umeed kuch hai tou tum ho.
Raaz e tabasum maujood kuch hai tou tum ho.

Hum ko maloom hai haqeeqat wafa lekin..
Dil e khasta ka sarood kuch hai tou tum ho.

Gar jane na kabi Kaabe ki haqeeqat hum ne
Fazail haq mere sajood kuch hai tou tum ho..

Na jane humne bisat e waqt kabi hakimu se
Daur e rawan ke namrood kuch hai tou tum ho..

© Irfan Suhrawardy.

Me.. We.. And I.

Once usual, I got a morning beam,
Running through the day all serene.
Wishing to move from ones to team,
I grasped the heart as also the brain.
Days flew across as months passed too,
Being in company all in oneness alone,
Joys squared, dumps diminishing so.
Wishing for a time up to all ever grown,
Destined it was from side one and all.
Hopes were high,  expectations soar.
Till the day befell with a fallen fall,
Putting apart the bonds crust to core.
Taking away soul of a perfect alliance.
Thus,  pierced me apart in utter silence..

© Irfan Suhrawardy

Hmmm....

Zindagi main tere aana tabeer e khawab hogaya.
Mehak gaye lamhe sare, har pal shadab hogaya.
Deed e sakoon ki aise, dekhna sairaab hogaya
Munkise Rukh yuun, be rukh mahtaab hogaya.
Khawab is pe ki main be shamil khawab hogaya
Ik apne nawaah e subuhh ka in-ti-khaab hogaya.
Neend se uthke, haqeeqat se hum khithab hogaya.
Har manzar,  pase manzar, manad sarab hogaya.
© Irfan Suhrawardy