Aaj aakhan waaris shah nooN kito.n qabra.n vicho.n bol!
te aj kitab-e-ishq da koi agla varka phol!
I say to Waris Shah today, speak from your grave
And add a new page to your book of love
Ik roi si dhii punjab dii tuu likh-likh mare vaiN
aj lakkha.n dheeyan rondian tainuu.n waaris shah nooN kahaN!
Once one daughter of Punjab wept, and you wrote your long saga;
Today thousands weep, calling to you Waris Shah:
uTh darmandaN diaa dardiiaa uTh tak apNa punjaab!
aj bele laashaa.n vichiiaa.n te lahu dii bharii chenaab!
Arise, o friend of the afflicted; arise and see the state of Punjab,
Corpses strewn on fields, and the Chenaab flowing with much blood.
kise ne panja paaNia.n vich dittii zahir rala!
te unhaa.n paaNiaa.n dharat nuu.n dittaa paaNii laa!
Someone filled the five rivers with poison,
And this same water now irrigates our soil.
jitthe vajdii phuuk pyaar di ve oh vanjhli gayi guaach
ranjhe de sab veer aj bhul gaye usdi jaach
Where was lost the flute, where the songs of love sounded?
And all Ranjha's brothers forgotten to play the flute.
dharti te lahu vasiya, qabran payiyan choN
preet diyan shaahazaadiiaa.n aj vich mazaaraa.n roN
Blood has rained on the soil, graves are oozing with blood,
The princesses of love cry their hearts out in the graveyards.
aj sab 'qaido' baN gaye, husn ishq de chor
aj kitho.n liaaiie labbh ke waaris shah ik hor
Today all the Quaido'ns* have become the thieves of love and beauty,
Where can we find another one like Waris Shah?
aaj aakhan waaris shah nooN kito.n qabra.n vicho.n bol!
te aj kitab-e-ishq da koi agla varka phol!
Waris Shah! I say to you, speak from your grave
And add a new page to your book of love.
[*Quaido'n, a maternal uncle of Heer in "Heer Ranjha" is the villain who betrays the lovers]
