Mainay Uss Say Yeh Kaha

“Main Nay Kaha” is a satirical poem by the famous leftist poet Habib Jalib called “Musheer” (Advisor). Jalib wrote it in response to a conversation he had with Hafiz Jalandari during the time of Ayub Khan’s dictatorship. It remains just as fresh and valid today.

This poem has been put to music by Laal (Shahram Azhar & Taimur Rahman) a new Pakistani music group dedicated to resistance music and poetry. Shahram Azhar and Taimur Rahman are also political activists of the Communist Mazdoor Kissan Party and their poetry, music, and activism constitute an integrated whole the essence of which is always revolutionary. The CMKP has been an integral part of the lawyers movement and the movement for democracy in Pakistan.

me ne us se ye kaha
ye jo das crore hain,
jehl ka nichor hain
inki fikr so gayi
har umeed ki kiran,
zulmaton me kho gai
ye khabar darust hai,
inki mot ho gai

be shaoor log hain
zindagi ka rog hain
aur tere paas hai
inke dard ki dawa
me ne us se ye kaha

tu khuda ka noor hai
akl hai, shaoor hai
qaum tere saath hai
tere hi!, hi!, hi!, wajood se
mulk ki nijaat hai
tu hai mehr-e-subh-e-nau
tere baad raat hai!
bolte jo chand hain
sab ye shar pasand hain!
inki khainch le zabaan
inka ghoont de gala

me ne us se ye kaha
me ne us se ye kaha

jin ko tha zaban pe naaz
chup hain wo zaban daraaz
chain hai samaaj me
bemisaal fark hai
kal me aur aaj me
apne kharch par hain log
kaid tere raaj me

me ne us se ye kaha
me ne us se ye kaha

cheen apna yar hai
us pe jan nisar hai
par wahan jo hai nizaam
us taraf na jaayio
us ko door se salaam

das crore ye gadhe
jin ka naam hai awaam
kia banain ge hukmaran
tu!, tu!, tu! yaqeen hai ye gumaan
apni to dua hai ye
sadr tu rahe sada

me ne us se ye kaha
me ne us se ye kaha

All the world’s a stage,

And all the men and women merely players;
They have their exits and their entrances;
And one man in his time plays many parts,
His acts being seven ages. At first the infant,
Mewling and puking in the nurse's arms;
Then the whining school-boy, with his satchel
And shining morning face, creeping like snail
Unwillingly to school. And then the lover,
Sighing like furnace, with a woeful ballad
Made to his mistress' eyebrow. Then a soldier,
Full of strange oaths, and bearded like the pard,
Jealous in honour, sudden and quick in quarrel,
Seeking the bubble reputation
Even in the cannon's mouth. And then the justice,
In fair round belly with good capon lin'd,
With eyes severe and beard of formal cut,
Full of wise saws and modern instances;
And so he plays his part. The sixth age shifts
Into the lean and slipper'd pantaloon,
With spectacles on nose and pouch on side;
His youthful hose, well sav'd, a world too wide
For his shrunk shank; and his big manly voice,
Turning again toward childish treble, pipes
And whistles in his sound. Last scene of all,
That ends this strange eventful history,
Is second childishness and mere oblivion;
Sans teeth, sans eyes, sans taste, sans everything."

By: William Shakespeare