
Sign up to save your podcasts
Or
For word meanings and explanatory discussion in English click on the tabs marked “Roman” or “Notes”.
https://urdushahkar.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/sGhnng-hijaab-hai-saaqi-audio.mp3
Recitation
حجاب ہے ساقی ۔ غلام نصیرالدین نصیرؔ گیلانی
۱
اُٹھا رباب کہ شُغلِ شراب ہے ساقی
۲
ہجومِ غم ہے، شبِ ماہتاب ہے ساقی
۳
بچی کُچھی ہی سہی، مجھ پہ بھی کرم فرما
۴
جو زلف میں ہو تو زینت، جو دل میں ہو تو خَلِش
۵
مجال ہے جو کوئی آنکھ بھر کے دیکھ سکے
۶
شراب جھوم کے دے، جام چوم چوم کر دے
۷
نگاہ وُسعتِ کون و مکاں کو جانچے کیا
۸
وہ پاس ہو، تو حقیقت ہے خواب کا عالم
۹
وہ ایک شعلہ عطا ہو کہ دل کی آگ بُجھے
हिजाब है साक़ी – ग़ुलाम नसीरुद्दीन नसीर गीलानी
१
२
३
४
५
६
७
८
९
Click here for background and on any passage for word meanings and explanatory discussion. syed Ghulam naseeruddin naseer giilani (1949–2009), also known as pir naseeruddin naseer, was a distinguished pakistani sufi scholar, poet, and spiritual leader. he served as the custodian (sajjada nashin) of the golra sharif shrine near islamabad, a significant center of the chishti qadiri sufi order in pakistan.
syed Ghulam naseeruddin naseer giilani (1949–2009), also known as pir naseeruddin naseer, was a distinguished pakistani sufi scholar, poet, and spiritual leader. he served as the custodian (sajjada nashin) of the golra sharif shrine near islamabad, a significant center of the chishti qadiri sufi order in pakistan.
1.instrument like sitar 2.occupation, pastime 3.wine 4.waiting 5.form 6.torment
Strike the rabaab (music and celebration), for this is the occasion to indulge in the pastime of (drinking) wine, O saaqi. The act of waiting itself has now become a form of torment. Given the sufiyaana background of the poet, the wine could easily be mystical and the waiting (for union with the beloved or god, or for divine message) is unbearable.
1.crowd, onslaught 2.grief 3.night 4.moonlit, full moon 5.anxiety, restlessness
Grief presses in from all sides; on top of that it is moonlit night demanding union with the beloved, O saaqi. Pour the wine, for the restlessness is intense. This could be the wine of mystical love and the beloved could be the divine.
1.remaining, left-over 2.kindness 3.grant, give 4.world, people 5.doorstep 6.blessed
Even if it is just the leftover, grant me a little wine too, O saaqi; for the world is already receiving blessings from your threshold.
1.hair 2.adornment 3.pain, ache 4.thing 5.twists and turns, curls, agony and distress
When it dwells in your tresses it is a beautiful adornment, but in my heart it becomes torment, yet it’s the same thing, O saaqi. The ‘it’ and the ‘same thing’ is pech o taab which can mean both curls and ‘agony and distress’. This is a clever use of the two meanings of the same words.
1.courage, daring 2.forehead 3.likeness, qualities of 4.sun
Who has the courage to look upon you fully/directly? Your radiant brow is like the sun, O saaqi. The beloved (or divine beloved) is too luminous to gaze upon directly. This evokes the mystical idea that divine beauty is overwhelming and inaccessible to the ordinary human eye.
1.kissing again and again 2.merit, spiritual reward for virtuous deeds
Pour the wine in ecstasy, kissing the cup again and again as you serve; quenching someone’s thirst is an act of virtue that will be rewarded, O saaqi. This is a clever turn of mystical metaphor and moral appeal. The poet frames the act of offering wine (literal or metaphorical) as a virtuous deed, sanctifying indulgence as opposed to orthodox forbidding.
1.gaze 2.vastness 3.time and space, cosmos, creation 4.measure, examine, understand 5.abundance 6.radiance, manifestation 7.veil
How can human gaze contemplate and measure the vastness of creation, O saaqi, when your overwhelming radiance is itself a veil? Here, the idea is that true reality is hidden not by darkness, but by an abundance of brilliance which blinds the eye; the (divine) beloved’s presence is so radiant it blinds rather than reveals. It critiques the intellect’s attempt to grasp the infinite.
1.near 2.reality 3.dream, illusion 4.state
If the beloved is near, dreams become real; if distant, even reality feels like a dream.
1.flame 2.grant 3.naseer (the poet) 4.exclusively engaged in 5.grief and restlessness
Grant me that one special flame (the flame of divine/universal love) to quench the fire (passion for union with the divine/beloved) of my heart; for naseer is consumed by grief and turmoil, O saaqi.
The post hijaab hai saaqi-naseeruddin naseer giilani appeared first on UrduShahkar.
For word meanings and explanatory discussion in English click on the tabs marked “Roman” or “Notes”.
https://urdushahkar.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/sGhnng-hijaab-hai-saaqi-audio.mp3
Recitation
حجاب ہے ساقی ۔ غلام نصیرالدین نصیرؔ گیلانی
۱
اُٹھا رباب کہ شُغلِ شراب ہے ساقی
۲
ہجومِ غم ہے، شبِ ماہتاب ہے ساقی
۳
بچی کُچھی ہی سہی، مجھ پہ بھی کرم فرما
۴
جو زلف میں ہو تو زینت، جو دل میں ہو تو خَلِش
۵
مجال ہے جو کوئی آنکھ بھر کے دیکھ سکے
۶
شراب جھوم کے دے، جام چوم چوم کر دے
۷
نگاہ وُسعتِ کون و مکاں کو جانچے کیا
۸
وہ پاس ہو، تو حقیقت ہے خواب کا عالم
۹
وہ ایک شعلہ عطا ہو کہ دل کی آگ بُجھے
हिजाब है साक़ी – ग़ुलाम नसीरुद्दीन नसीर गीलानी
१
२
३
४
५
६
७
८
९
Click here for background and on any passage for word meanings and explanatory discussion. syed Ghulam naseeruddin naseer giilani (1949–2009), also known as pir naseeruddin naseer, was a distinguished pakistani sufi scholar, poet, and spiritual leader. he served as the custodian (sajjada nashin) of the golra sharif shrine near islamabad, a significant center of the chishti qadiri sufi order in pakistan.
syed Ghulam naseeruddin naseer giilani (1949–2009), also known as pir naseeruddin naseer, was a distinguished pakistani sufi scholar, poet, and spiritual leader. he served as the custodian (sajjada nashin) of the golra sharif shrine near islamabad, a significant center of the chishti qadiri sufi order in pakistan.
1.instrument like sitar 2.occupation, pastime 3.wine 4.waiting 5.form 6.torment
Strike the rabaab (music and celebration), for this is the occasion to indulge in the pastime of (drinking) wine, O saaqi. The act of waiting itself has now become a form of torment. Given the sufiyaana background of the poet, the wine could easily be mystical and the waiting (for union with the beloved or god, or for divine message) is unbearable.
1.crowd, onslaught 2.grief 3.night 4.moonlit, full moon 5.anxiety, restlessness
Grief presses in from all sides; on top of that it is moonlit night demanding union with the beloved, O saaqi. Pour the wine, for the restlessness is intense. This could be the wine of mystical love and the beloved could be the divine.
1.remaining, left-over 2.kindness 3.grant, give 4.world, people 5.doorstep 6.blessed
Even if it is just the leftover, grant me a little wine too, O saaqi; for the world is already receiving blessings from your threshold.
1.hair 2.adornment 3.pain, ache 4.thing 5.twists and turns, curls, agony and distress
When it dwells in your tresses it is a beautiful adornment, but in my heart it becomes torment, yet it’s the same thing, O saaqi. The ‘it’ and the ‘same thing’ is pech o taab which can mean both curls and ‘agony and distress’. This is a clever use of the two meanings of the same words.
1.courage, daring 2.forehead 3.likeness, qualities of 4.sun
Who has the courage to look upon you fully/directly? Your radiant brow is like the sun, O saaqi. The beloved (or divine beloved) is too luminous to gaze upon directly. This evokes the mystical idea that divine beauty is overwhelming and inaccessible to the ordinary human eye.
1.kissing again and again 2.merit, spiritual reward for virtuous deeds
Pour the wine in ecstasy, kissing the cup again and again as you serve; quenching someone’s thirst is an act of virtue that will be rewarded, O saaqi. This is a clever turn of mystical metaphor and moral appeal. The poet frames the act of offering wine (literal or metaphorical) as a virtuous deed, sanctifying indulgence as opposed to orthodox forbidding.
1.gaze 2.vastness 3.time and space, cosmos, creation 4.measure, examine, understand 5.abundance 6.radiance, manifestation 7.veil
How can human gaze contemplate and measure the vastness of creation, O saaqi, when your overwhelming radiance is itself a veil? Here, the idea is that true reality is hidden not by darkness, but by an abundance of brilliance which blinds the eye; the (divine) beloved’s presence is so radiant it blinds rather than reveals. It critiques the intellect’s attempt to grasp the infinite.
1.near 2.reality 3.dream, illusion 4.state
If the beloved is near, dreams become real; if distant, even reality feels like a dream.
1.flame 2.grant 3.naseer (the poet) 4.exclusively engaged in 5.grief and restlessness
Grant me that one special flame (the flame of divine/universal love) to quench the fire (passion for union with the divine/beloved) of my heart; for naseer is consumed by grief and turmoil, O saaqi.
The post hijaab hai saaqi-naseeruddin naseer giilani appeared first on UrduShahkar.