ہم سفر
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وہ ہم سفر تھا مگر اُس سے ہَم نَوائی نَہ تھی
کِہ دُھوپ چھاؤں کا عالَم رہا جدائی نَہ تھی
He was my fellow traveler, yet no closeness between us—
for the period of light and shadow, was still never quite a parting.
نَہ اَپْنا رَن٘ج نَہ اَوروں کا دُکھ نَہ تیرا ملال
شَبِ فِراق کَبھی ہَم نے یوں گِنْوائی نَہ تھی
Neither one's own grief, the sorrow of others, nor your regrets—
never did we squander a night of farewell in such a way.
مُحَبَّتوں کا سفر اِس طَرَح بھی گُزرا تھا
شِکَسْتَہ دِل تھے مُسافِر شِکَسْتَہ پائی نَہ تھی
Love’s journey unfolded this way too:
we were travelers with broken hearts, but never broken steps.
عَداوَتیں تھیں ، تَغافُل تھا ، رنجشیں تھیں بَہُت
بچھڑنے والے میں سب کُچھ تھا ، بے وَفائی نَہ تھی
There were resentments, indifference, so many grudges—
in the one who left, everything existed, except betrayal.
بچھڑتے وقت اُن آنکھوں میں تھی ہَماری غزل
غزل بھی وہ جو کِسی کو ابھی سُنائی نَہ تھی
At the hour of parting, our poem lived in their eyes—
a poem still unrecited to anyone.
کِسے پُکار رہا تھا وہ ڈوبتا ہوا دِن
صَدا تو آئی تھی لیکن کوئی دُہائی نَہ تھی
For whom did that drowning day cry out?
The echo always came, but no plea was ever made.
کَبھی یہ حال کِہ دونوں میں یک دلی تھی بَہُت
کَبھی یہ مَرْحَلَہ جیسے کِہ آشْنائی نَہ تھی
At times, such were the states between us both, that harmony was abundant
at others, such distance that familiarity didn't even exist.
عَجِیب ہوتی ہے راہِ سُخَن بھی دیکھ ناصِر
وہاں بھی آ گئے آخِر ، جہاں رسائی نَہ تھی
Se how strange it is, Nasir, the path of poetry
If finally arrives even where there was no reach.
About this song
- Singers
- Abida Parveen, Quratulain Balouch
- Lyrics
- Naseer Turabi
- Music
- Waqar Ali
ham_safar (Hindi: हमसफ़र, Urdu: ہم سفر) "Fellow Traveler" is a celebrated ghazal written by poet Naseer Turabi following the traumatic separation of East Pakistan in 1971, an event that culminated in the fall of Dhakka and the birth of Bangladesh. Although the poem does not explicitly mention this historical event, it uses the intimate language of heartbreak to express a profound and collective loss, and has thus been read as a poetic lament for the breakdown of national unity.
Decades later, the ghazal was adapted as the theme song for the soap opera Humsafar (2011), sung by Quratulain Balouch, whose melancholic voice became inseparable from the series' success. This version was set to music by composer Waqar Ali. For this occasion, additional verses from another poem attributed to the poet Khalid Ahmad were incorporated, including the famous royaa na tu na maiN, creating an expanded and emotional version that won over audiences.
The ghazal has also been sung in its original version by Abida Parveen, in a more classical and contemplative style. Over time, other singers such as Zeeshan Ali and Alize Naqvi have also released their versions, demonstrating the poem's lasting resonance.
