By Ahmad Faraz
shola tha jal-bujha hun hawaen mujhe na do
main kab ka ja chuka hun sadaen mujhe na do
main kab ka ja chuka hun sadaen mujhe na do
“I was a flame, now burnt out — do not offer me the winds; I left long ago — do not call out to me now.”
Romanहिन्दीAhmad Faraz
शो'ला था जल-बुझा हूँ हवाएँ मुझे न दो
मैं कब का जा चुका हूँ सदाएँ मुझे न दो
मैं कब का जा चुका हूँ सदाएँ मुझे न दो
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 poet declares himself a spent flame and asks, almost wearily, to be left alone — no winds to fan him, no voices to call him back. The two halves rhyme grief with finality: burnt out, and long gone. It is a refusal dressed as exhaustion, the dignity of someone who has decided not to be revived.
For You, Today
When you have truly let something go, protect that closure — not every offer to reignite the past is a kindness worth accepting.
The couplet belongs to the small, hard-won genre of poems about being done, where peace is chosen over rekindling.
Themes:SolitudeAdversity
More from Ahmad Faraz
The heart of this site stays with Iqbal: explore his couplets → Or browse the whole Other Voices shelf →