میں خیال ہوں کسی اور کا مجھے سوچتا کوئی اور ہے
maiñ ḳhayāl huuñ kisī aur kā mujhe sochtā koī aur hai
I am the thought of someone else; the one who thinks of me is someone else.
سلیم کوثر
میں خیال ہوں کسی اور کا مجھے سوچتا کوئی اور ہے
maiñ ḳhayāl huuñ kisī aur kā mujhe sochtā koī aur hai
I am the thought of someone else; the one who thinks of me is someone else.
سرِ آئینہ مرا عکس ہے پسِ آئینہ کوئی اور ہے
sar-e-ā.īna mirā aks hai pas-e-ā.īna koī aur hai
On the surface of the mirror is my reflection, but behind the mirror is someone else.
میں کسی کے دستِ طلب میں ہوں تو کسی کے حرفِ دُعا میں ہوں
maiñ kisī ke dast-e-talab meñ huuñ to kisī ke harf-e-duā meñ huuñ
I am in someone's outstretched hand of seeking, and in someone else's words of prayer.
میں نصیب ہوں کسی اور کا مجھے مانگتا کوئی اور ہے
maiñ nasīb huuñ kisī aur kā mujhe māñgtā koī aur hai
I am the destiny of someone else, but the one who asks for me is someone else.
عجب اعتبار و بے اعتباری کے درمیان ہے زندگی
ajab e'tibār o be-e'tibārī ke darmiyān hai zindagī
Life is (stuck) between a strange trust and mistrust.
میں قریب ہوں کسی اور کے مجھے جانتا کوئی اور ہے
maiñ qarīb huuñ kisī aur ke mujhe jāntā koī aur hai
I am close to someone else, but the one who knows me is someone else.
مِری روشنی تِرے خد و خال سے مختلف تو نہیں مگر تُو قریب آ تجھے دیکھ لوں تُو وہی ہے یا کوئی اور ہے
mirī raushnī tire ḳhadd-o-ḳhāl se muḳhtalif to nahīñ magar tū qarīb aa tujhe dekh luuñ tū vahī hai yā koī aur hai
My light is not so different from your features, and yet... Come closer, let me look at you—are you the same, or are you someone else?
تجھے دُشمنوں کی خبر نہ تھی مجھے دوستوں کا پتا نہیں تِری داستاں کوئی اور تھی مِرا واقعہ کوئی اور ہے
tujhe dushmanoñ kī ḳhabar na thī mujhe dostoñ kā patā nahīñ tirī dāstāñ koī aur thī mirā vāqi.a koī aur hai
You had no news of your enemies; I had no idea of my friends. Your story was something else; my reality (incident) was something else.
وہی منصفوں کی روایتیں وہی فیصلوں کی عبارتیں مِرا جُرم تو کوئی اور تھا پہ مِرا سزا کوئی اور ہے
vahī munsifoñ kī rivāyateñ vahī faisloñ kī ibārateñ mirā jurm to koī aur thā pa mirī sazā koī aur hai
The same traditions of the judges, the same wording of the verdicts. My crime was something else, but my punishment is something else.
کبھی لَوٹ آئیں تو پُوچھنا نہیں دیکھنا اُنہیں غور سے جنہیں راستے میں خبر ہوئی کہ یہ راستہ کوئی اور ہے
kabhī lauT aa.eñ to pūchhnā nahīñ dekhnā unheñ ġhaur se jinheñ rāste meñ ḳhabar huī ki ye rāsta koī aur hai
If they ever return, don't ask—just look at them intently. The ones who realized midway that this was some other path.
جو مِری ریاضتِ نیم شب کو 'سلیم' صبح نہ مِل سکی تو پِھر اِس کے معنی تو یہ ہوئے کہ یہاں خدا کوئی اور ہے
jo mirī riyāzat-e-nīm-shab ko 'salīm' sub.h na mil sakī to phir is ke ma.anī to ye hue ki yahāñ ḳhudā koī aur hai
If my midnight ascetic struggles, 'Saleem', could not find their morning... ...Then this simply means that the God here is someone else.
📖Metaphorical & Poetic Meaning
This ghazal is a masterpiece of alienation, describing a profound disconnect between the inner self and the external world.
Alienation from Self:
The poet feels like a puppet. His thoughts aren't his own ('I am the thought of someone else'). His external appearance (aks) in the mirror is just a mask, while his true self (pas-e-ā.īna) is a hidden, separate entity.
Alienation from Destiny:
He feels misplaced in the grand scheme of things. He is destined (nasīb) for one person, but desired (māñgtā) by another. His life is a mismatch of fate and desire.
Alienation from Others:
His relationships are superficial. He is physically close (qarīb) to one person, but the person who truly understands (jāntā) him is someone else entirely.
Alienation from the Beloved:
The disconnect is so profound that he can't even recognize his beloved. He asks them to come closer, to see if they are still the person he knew or if they, too, have been replaced by 'someone else.'
Alienation from Justice:
This is a powerful critique of societal (and perhaps divine) justice. The crime he is being punished for is not the one he actually committed. His jurm (crime) and sazā (punishment) are mismatched.
Alienation from Faith:
The final, devastating conclusion. The poet, 'Saleem,' says that if his sincere, midnight spiritual struggles (riyāzat-e-nīm-shab) bear no fruit (find no sub.h or morning), then the only logical conclusion is that the God he has been praying to is not the one in charge. The 'God here' (the one running this world) must be 'someone else.'