Be you.

Fall in no mould made by man
Know your own pattern, for you can
Defy what already has been seen
and be the way, like you mean

-me

With you

With you goes away my will to write;
No poem, no wish to suffer in dim light
Old days seem so old as if a previous life
New days, so new-a rewardful afterlife
No more do I walk with a wish to be loved
No more do I talk with a fear of being cuffed
Through you have I been blessed with a cause
That race i was in, beautifully has a pause.

-Syed Ahmad Raza

بے بسی

خود شناسی کی آڑ میں

بے بسی کی وہ منزلیں

طے ہوئیں ہیں کچھ اس طرح

زندگی کی حقیقتیں

اک گھڑی میں بدل گئیں

خود کیے تھے جو بت کھڑے

اک ہوا کے جھکولے نے

بے دلی سے اڑا دئیے

۔۔سید احمد رضا

خاموشی سے سن لو۔

کچھ ان کہی باتیں 

خاموشی سے سن لو

رائے نہ دو

خاموشی سے سن لو

کوئی پیارا لگے تو

اس کے دل کی دھڑکن

خاموشی سے سن لو

بحث ہو جائے کسی سے

تو خود کو بتانا

کہ کم عقل ہو تم

تو بس اگلے کی بات

خاموشی سے سن لو

جائو جب اپنوں کے پاس

اک عرصے کہ بعد

تو گلے شکوے ان کے

خاموشی سے سن لو۔۔۔

۔

(سید احمد رضا)

Dear step!

Dear step on the ladder to heavens!
You ought not be stepped upon
And touched by the sole of the feet
Sit up on the curve of the lashes
And be the crownly pride of my head
Dear step on the ladder to heavens!
Step on my back and grow as wings
Be trampoline to my baby dreams
And help them jump to the realities divine.

(Syed Ahmad Raza)

Long live...

Long live the conventions of the East!
The murderer of hearts and whatever lies within
The shackles of which are more tormenting
Than the merciless daggers piercing your skin.

Long live the investment of the guardians!
The favour an innocent so helplessly succumbs to
The burden of which is inevitably heavier
Than the remorse of sins at the death bed.

Long live the moments of solitude!
The haven an introvert so desperately longs for
The companionship of whom is breathtakingly warmer
Than the ones you so forcibly call your family.

Long live the corruption in grooming!
The dose a newborn is given like vaccine
The aftermath of which is heinously more grave
Than the mistakenly pills that stopped your heart.

Long live the fire of the rebellion!
The heat of which will stay inside and never menifest
The damage of which is uncomfortably severer
Than a house all burnt and nothing remains rest.

(Syed Ahmad Raza)

You're all of it...

That freshness after a sound sleep
And even the sound sleep itself
that transcends after the dint of all day exhaustion
That quenched thirst of a desolated
and the sight of blue while I lay on green
That penny for the broke if it suffices
to keep him on the track of survival
That straw a drowning man catches at
and the spirit a divine scripture revitalizes
That Jin by the rub of a lamp so magical
showing up to fulfill your last ever wish
That incident of utmost importance in life
teaching a stubborn, life long lessons
That hug of a mother when how passionately
greets her soldier son returning alive and safe
That tear rolling down a father's cheek
when he sees his better reflection in his boy
That dream, conceived and lived
by you and only you,
The citrus of my favourite fruit!
You're all of it.

(Syed Ahmad Raza)