Classical · 1713–1781 · Delhi – Lucknow
Mirza Muhammad Rafi, known as Sauda, was an eighteenth-century poet counted among the three pillars of the early Urdu ghazal. He was especially celebrated as a master of the qasida (panegyric) and the hajv (satire), wielding a command of language that few of his contemporaries could match.
gul phenke hain auron ki taraf balke samar bhi
ae khaana-bar-andaaz-e-chaman kuchh to idhar bhi
fikr-e-maash ishq-e-butaan yaad-e-raftagaan
is zindagi mein ab koi kya kya kiya kare
sarsari tum jahaan se guzre
warna har jaa jahaan-e-deegar tha
gulshan mein band qafas mein chaman ki yaad aati hai
wo din jo guzre the aazaadi mein bahut yaad aate hain
ishq ne zaalim tujhe kis raah par daala hai
na khuda hi mila na visaal-e-sanam
nigaah-e-naaz ne parde uthaaye hain kya kya
hijaab-e-husn mein chhupte hain raaz kya kya
sahar hone ko hai ai shama-e-mazaar
ab to ro le ke ye mauqa na milega
sauda khuda ke vaaste kar qissa mukhtasar
apni to neend ud gayi tere fasaane mein