Faiz’s Ham DekheNge became an iconic song of dissent much later when Iqbal Bano made it into a song of open defiance against Zia-ul-Haq in Pakistan. But much before Zia came Ayub Khan. Hear it from Habib Jalib himself:
The cream of Pakistan was present in the mushaira, as Jalib recounts. A leaf would not move out of fear and he decided to read this. My translation is clunky and literal, done more for the sake of ensuring that I do get the meaning right.
diip jis kā mahallāt hī meñ jale
chand logoñ kī ḳhushiyoñ ko le kar chale
vo jo saa.e meñ har maslahat ke pale
aise dastūr ko sub.h-e-be-nūr ko
maiñ nahīñ māntā maiñ nahīñ jāntā
Whose lamp lights up only the palaces
Walks along with the happiness of a few people
That which grows in the shadow of every compromise
Such tradition – that dawn without light
I do not approve, I do not acknowledge
maiñ bhī ḳhā.if nahīñ taḳhta-e-dār se
maiñ bhī mansūr huuñ kah do aġhyār se
kyuuñ Darāte ho zindāñ kī dīvār se
zulm kī baat ko jahl kī raat ko
maiñ nahīñ māntā maiñ nahīñ jāntā
I am not afraid of the executioner’s scaffold
Tell the strangers that I too am Mansoor, the martyr
Why do you scare me with prison walls
This oppressive diktat, this night of ignorance
I do not approve, I do not acknowledge
phuul shāḳhoñ pe khilne lage tum kaho
jaam rindoñ ko milne lage tum kaho
chaak sīnoñ ke silne lage tum kaho
is khule jhuuT ko zehn kī luuT ko
maiñ nahīñ māntā maiñ nahīñ jāntā
Flowers are beginning to bloom on the branches, you say
Drunkards are beginning to get their wineglasses, you say
Cut up chests are beginning to get stitched, you say
This open lie, this insult to intelligence
I do not approve, I do not acknowledge
tum ne luuTā hai sadiyoñ hamārā sukūñ
ab na ham par chalegā tumhārā fusūñ
chārāgar dardmandoñ ke bante ho kyuuñ
tum nahīñ chārāgar koī maane magar
maiñ nahīñ māntā maiñ nahīñ jāntā
You have all stolen our peace of mind for centuries
But your spell will not work on us now
Why do you pretend to be a healer for those in pain
You are no healer, even if some consider you to be one
I do not approve, I do not acknowledge.
Juvenilia 