By Nida Fazli
se hai yun kar
kisi hue ko
kisi hue ko
“The mosque is very far from home — so let us do this instead: make some crying child laugh.”
Romanहिन्दीNida Fazli
से है यूँ कर लें
किसी रोते हुए को हँसाया जाए
किसी रोते हुए को हँसाया जाए
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
Fazli takes a literal distance — the mosque too far to reach — and converts it into a redirection of devotion. The crying child becomes the altar, and laughter the prayer. It is a quiet, radical argument that the sacred is wherever a person is comforted.
For You, Today
If the formal act of worship is out of reach, turn the impulse toward an actual person who is suffering nearby — that, too, is devotion.
This couplet is among the clearest statements of Fazli's faith, which placed human kindness at the centre of the sacred.
Themes:DevotionFaith & Doubt
More from Nida Fazli
The heart of this site stays with Iqbal: explore his couplets → Or browse the whole Other Voices shelf →