ariba

“But the English have become such a pitiful lot these days, with hardly any idea what to do with themselves now that they no longer have one quarter of the earth's human population bowing and scraping before them. They don't seem to know that this empire business was all wrong and they should, at least, be wearing sackcloth and ashed in token penance of the wrongs committed, the irrevocableness of their bad deeds, for no natural disaster imaginable could equal the harm they did . . . The English hate each other and they hate England, and the reason they are so miserable now is that they have no place else to go and nobody else to feel better than.”
― Jamaica Kincaid, A Small Place

“رات یوں دل میں تری کھوئی ہوئی یاد آئی
جیسے ویرانے میں چپکے ے بہار آجائے
جیسے صحراؤں میں ہولے سے چلے بادِ نسیم
جیسے بیمار کو بے وجہ قرار آجائے”
― Faiz Ahmad Faiz, Nuskha ha-e Wafa / نسخہ ہائے وفا

“This thought keeps consoling me:
though tyrants may command that lamps be smashed
in rooms where lovers are destined to meet,
they cannot snuff out the moon, so today,
nor tomorrow, no tyranny will succeed,
no poison of torture makes me bitter,
if just one evening in prison
can be so strangely sweet,
if just one moment anywhere on this earth.”
― Faiz Ahmed Faiz

“You have learnt so much
And read a thousand books.
Have you ever read your Self?
You have gone to mosques and temples.
Have you ever visited your soul?
You are busy fighting Satan.
Have you ever fought your
Ill intentions?
You have reached into the skies,
But you have failed to reach
What's in your heart!”
― Bulleh Shah, Sufi Lyrics