Yeh Jo Halka Halka

Been listening to Jeff Buckley’s cover of this Nusrat gem a lot lately. Had to translate it. This is what Forster refers to as the South Asian pathos at its best.

I have been a lover from time immemorial
Sin and Salvation do not concern me.
Now that I found your doorstep to prostrate upon,
I have no need for His sanctum.
My obesiance, my offerings are
in need of no church or mosque.
To glance at you, though for a moment
and through seven veils is commensurate with a lifetime of prayer.
My life is your love.
Your love is my life.

Yeh Jo Halka Halka Saroor Hai – Mohammad Iqbal Naqibi or Iqbal Qasoori.