By Saifuddin Saif
shor din ko nahin sone deta
shab ko sannata jaga deta hai
shab ko sannata jaga deta hai
“Noise does not let the day sleep — and silence keeps the night awake.”
Romanहिन्दीSaifuddin Saif
शोर दिन को नहीं सोने देता
शब को सन्नाटा जगा देता है
शब को सन्नाटा जगा देता 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
In two clean strokes the couplet draws the full circle of a restless mind — the day denied its rest by noise, the night denied its rest by the absence of it. Silence here is no comfort; it presses just as hard as clamour, so the sufferer is given no hour that is truly his own.
For You, Today
If quiet feels louder than noise, that is not weakness — an unsettled mind makes its own disturbance, and naming it is the first step to easing it.
Its power is the neat reversal — silence cast not as relief but as the night's own kind of noise.
Themes:SolitudeSilence
More from Saifuddin Saif
The heart of this site stays with Iqbal: explore his couplets → Or browse the whole Other Voices shelf →