Modern · 1875–1951 · Mohan, Unnao – Lucknow
Maulana Fazl-ul-Hasan, known as Hasrat Mohani, was a revolutionary, a member of the Constituent Assembly, and the coiner of the slogan “Inquilab Zindabad”. Yet his ghazals are among the softest in Urdu — intimate, musical and direct. In him the politics of freedom and the poetry of love were a single devotion.
chupke chupke raat din aansu bahaana yaad hai
ham ko ab tak aashiqi ka vo zamaana yaad hai
khinch lo apni nigaahon ke fasaane Hasrat
aaj kuchh teri tabiyat hai udaasi ke qareeb
mashq-e-sukhan jaari chakki ki mashaqqat bhi rahi
ik turfa tamaasha hai Hasrat ki tabiyat bhi rahi
nazar-e-shauq bhi seham seham dil-e-betaab bhi tham tham
na poochh aalam-e-betaabi-e-dil aaj raat to bas tham tham
roshan jamaal-e-yaar se hai anjuman tamaam
dahka hua hai aatish-e-gul se chaman tamaam
hai mashahoor ki Hasrat ko hai shab ka aaram
shauq vo hai ki sahar tak nahin sone deta
dil ko sukoon-e-vasl muyassar nahin to kya
us yaad-e-hijr mein bhi maza hai kabhi kabhi
vatan ki khaak bhi mujh ko bahut aziz rahi
isi liye to muhabbat har ek se ki gayi