By Ahmad Faraz
tha hun mujhe na do
ka ja chuka hun 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
था हूँ हवाएँ मुझे न दो
मैं 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
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More from Ahmad Faraz
Longing
karun na yaad magar kis tarah bhulaun use …
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ranjish hi sahi dil hi dukhane ke liye aa …
Love & Loss
ab ke ham bichhde to shayad kabhi khwabon mein milen …
All couplets by Ahmad Faraz →

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