Mai Ne Main Kinon Aakhaan – Shah Hussain’s finest Punjabi poem

Mai Ne Main Kinon Aakhaan
Dard Vichore da Hall Nee

Dhkhan di roti Soolaan da saalan
Aahen da baalan baal ni

Dhuan Dhukhay Mairay Murshid Wala
Jaan Phoulaan taan laal ni

Jungle bailay Phiraan Dhoudaindi
Ajey na payo lal ve

Kahay Hussain faqeer nimanaa,
Shoh milay tan theevan nihaal ni

 

English translation

O’ Mother Who do I tell?
Who do I share the pain of separation with?

I feed on the bread of sufferings, with agony as its side dish,
I burn the fuel of sighs and despair.

The smoke of sorrow fills my being,
It’s the pain of my spiritual guide (Murshid).

If I could bloom, I would become radiant like a red flower.

I wander through the forests and wilderness, searching.
But I still haven’t found my “Beloved” treasure (Lal).

Hussain, the humble fakir, says:
If I meet my Beloved, I will be overjoyed and fulfilled.