Click here for background and on any passage for word meanings and explanatory discussion. panDit anand narayan mulla (1901-1997) was a progressive thinker. A judge and later a member of the lok sabha and then the rajya sabha. He has written with much feeling about the status of urdu, about communal hatred and about blind faith. This nazm, written around 1988, forcefully condemns organized religion and talks of humanism.
1
insaaN ka lahu¹ peene vaala
mazhab se baRh kar koii nahiN
eemaaN² ke qabrastaaN se baRa
sehraa-e-KhamoshaaN³ koii nahiN     1.blood 2.faith 3.wilderness of the silent i.e. graveyard
There is nothing that sucks the blood of humanity more than religion. There is no killing field larger than the one caused by faith. It is important to remember that this is not about a given faith or the subject of any faith but about any and every blind belief.
2
jaati hai nazar meri jab bhi
in eemaani chehrauN ki taraf
shaitaan mujhe pyaara lagta hai    Whenever my eyes turn towards the faces of the purveyors of faith, even Satan appears better than them.
3
ye deen o dharm ke naara-zan¹
ye naqli² jaali³ paiGhambar⁴
ye krodh⁵, ghana⁶ ke saudagar
ye baRe baRe Teeke⁷ vaale
lambi lambi daaRhi vaale
ye prem ka raag alaapte haiN
ye amn⁸ ka geet sunaate haiN
aur Khoon bahaate jaate haiN     1.sloganeers 2.fake 3.counterfeit 4.messenger 5.anger 6.hatred 7.forehead marks 8.peace
These sloganeers of faith, these counterfeit purveyors of divine messages, these traders of anger and hate, with ritual marks on their forheads or their long beards, they sing songs of peace and love but keep perpetrating blood-baths.
4
sailaab¹ ho ya haala-Dolaa²
vo jaNg ho ya koii vaba³
le kar jaanauN⁴ ke nazraane⁵
kuchh der tabaahi⁶ karte haiN
aur phir Ghaa’eb⁷ ho jaate haiN     1.flood 2.tumult, disturbance 3.epidemic 4.lives 5.offerings 6.destruction 7.disappear
Whenever, wherever there is a calamity such as a flood, riot, epidemic, they show up and extract offerings of lives, spread destruction and disappear.
5
laikin eemaaN ke ye marghaT¹
sadiyauN² se khuli hai in ki dukaaN
dam-bhar³ ke liye ye band nahiN
le le kar naam KhudaaoN ka
din raat hai jaari⁴ kaam in ka     1.cremation grounds 2.centuries 3.even for a moment 4.goes on
But these cremation grounds in the name of faith, their shops have been open for centuries. They do not stop their business even for a moment. Chanting the names of their gods, their business runs day and night.
6
jalti haiN chitaaeN¹ pa’e-dar-pa’e²
laashauN³ par laasheN aati haiN
aur ye laashauN ke beopaari
apne jismauN ki charbi ko
apne jismauN ki badboo ko
KharqauN⁴ ki tahauN⁵ ki aaR liye
har-aan⁶ baRhaate jaate haiN     1.funeral pyre 2.step after step, one after another 3.corpses 4.ritual robes 5.layers 6.every moment
Funeral pyres burn one after another, corpses upon corpses arrive and these traders in bodies, get fat and stinky, hiding their greed in layers of their ritual robes.
7
in dharam ke chaukeedaarauN se
in mazhab ke rakhvaalauN se
in svarg¹ ke ThekedarauN se
in hoorauN ke dallaalauN se
ab kaRne ka vaqt aaya hai     1.heaven
With these ‘guardians’ of faith, these purveyors of religion, these monopolists of heaven, with these pimps of hoor/angels, it is time for confrontation.
8
allah ko chheeno bandauN¹ se
ishvar ko chhuRaao bhagtauN² se
duniya ko bachaao eemaaN³ se
insaaN ko milaao insaaN se 1.creatures, slaves 2.devotees 3.faith
Take away allah from (these) creatures and ishvar from his devotees, save the world from faith, let humans meet humans.