By Saifuddin Saif
'saif' andaz-e-bayan rang badal deta hai
varna duniya mein koi baat nai baat nahin

Saif, it is the manner of saying that changes the colour of things — otherwise nothing said in this world is truly new.

Romanहिन्दीSaifuddin Saif
'सैफ़' अंदाज़-ए-बयाँ रंग बदल देता है
वर्ना दुनिया में कोई बात नई बात नहीं

The verse in Devanagari — it carries the authenticity of the original, and every Hindi reader can read it.

♪ Hear the coupletA recitation in a synthesized voice.
The Interpretation

Saif makes a quiet, almost confessional point about his own craft — that originality lives not in the subject but in the saying. Every grief, every love has been spoken before; what changes the colour of things is the manner, the angle, the voice that carries it.

For You, Today

Do not wait for a brand-new thing to say — say the old true thing in a way only you could, and that is enough.

It is a poet's candid admission that style, not novelty, is the real work of art.
Themes:WisdomThe Self
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More from Saifuddin Saif
Love & Loss
meri dastan-e-hasrat vo suna suna ke roe
Solitude
shor din ko nahin sone deta
Adversity
us musafir ki naqahat ka thikana kya hai
All couplets by Saifuddin Saif

The heart of this site stays with Iqbal: explore his couplets → Or browse the whole Other Voices shelf →