The Waking

A Window by Neha

I wake to sleep, and take my waking slow.
I feel my fate in what I cannot fear.
I learn by going where I have to go.

We think by feeling. What is there to know?
I hear my being dance from ear to ear.
I wake to sleep, and take my waking slow.

Of those so close beside me, which are you?
God bless the Ground! I shall walk softly there,
And learn by going where I have to go.

Light takes the Tree; but who can tell us how?
The lowly worm climbs up a winding stair;
I wake to sleep, and take my waking slow.

Great Nature has another thing to do
To you and me, so take the lively air,
And, lovely, learn by going where to go.

This shaking keeps me steady. I should know.
What falls away is always. And is near.
I wake to sleep, and take my waking slow.
I learn by going where I have to go.

- T. Roethke

Dasht-e-Tanhaai

dasht-e-tanhaai mein, ai jaan-e-jahaan, larzaan hain 
In the desert of my solitude, oh love of my life, quiver
teri avaaz ke saaye, 
the shadows of your voice,
tere honthon ke saraab 
the mirage of your lips

dasht-e-tanhaai mein, 
In the desert of my solitude,
duri ke khas-o-khaak tale
beneath the dust and ashes of distance
khil rahe hain tere pehlu ke saman aur gulaab
bloom the jasmines and roses of your proximity

uht rahi hai kahin qurbat se 
From somewhere very close,
teri saans ki aanch 
rises the warmth of your breath
apani khushbuu mein sulagti hui 
smouldering in its own aroma,
maddham maddham 
slowly, bit by bit.

dur ufaq par chamakati hui 
far away, across the horizon, glistens
qatra qatra
drop by drop
gir rahi hai teri dil daar nazar ki shabnam 
the falling dew of your beguiling glance

is qadar pyaar se hai jaan-e jahaan rakkhaa hai 
With such tenderness, O love of my life,
dil ke rukhsaar pe 
on the cheek of my heart,
is vaqt teri yaad ne haath
has your memory placed its hand right now

yun guman hota hai 
that it looks as if
garche hai abhi subah-e-firaaq
(though it’s still the dawn of adieu)
dhal gaya hijr ka din 
the sun of separation has set
aa bhi gaye vasl ki raat 
and the night of union has arrived.

- Faiz Ahmed Faiz

(Translated by Ayesha Kaljuvee)

Can't quite decide which rendition is my favorite, they are all beautiful: 

1) Iqbal Bano 

2) Tina Sani 

3) Iqbal Qasim 

4) Meesha Shafi 

Music and Dreams

We are the music makers,
And we are the dreamers of dreams,

Wandering by lone sea-breakers,

And sitting by desolate streams;—

World-losers and world-forsakers,

On whom the pale moon gleams:

Yet we are the movers and shakers

Of the world for ever, it seems.

- Arthur William Edgar O'Shaughnessy 

Dancing

"And those who were seen dancing were thought to be insane by those who could not hear the music."-Friedrich Nietzsche