By Abbas Qamar
mere kamre mein udasi hai qayamat ki magar
ek tasvir purani si hansa karti hai
ek tasvir purani si hansa karti hai
“There is doomsday-deep gloom in my room — yet an old photograph keeps making me laugh.”
Romanहिन्दीAbbas Qamar
मेरे कमरे में उदासी है क़यामत की मगर
एक तस्वीर पुरानी सी हँसा करती है
एक तस्वीर पुरानी सी हँसा करती है
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
The room is heavy with a gloom the poet calls doomsday-deep, and against that vast word he sets one small, ordinary object: an old photograph. The quiet shock is the verb "keeps making me laugh" — memory refuses to honour the mood, and a faded picture out-argues despair without saying a word.
For You, Today
When a room fills with grief, keep one old photograph in view — the past can lighten you faster than any advice.
The couplet's power lies in scale — an enormous sorrow disarmed by a single domestic thing.
Themes:MemorySolitude
More from Abbas Qamar
The heart of this site stays with Iqbal: explore his couplets → Or browse the whole Other Voices shelf →