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inkaar karuN yaa na karuN – kaanti mohan soz
For word meanings and explanatory discussion in English click on the tabs marked “Roman” or “Notes”.
https://urdushahkar.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/kms-inkaar-karuN-yaa-na-karuN-audio.mp3
Recitation
اِنکار کروں یا نہ کروں ۔ کانتی موہن سوزؔ
نذرِ فیض
۱
شوقِ دیدارِ رخِ یار کروں یا نہ کروں
حسرتِ حاصلِ افکار کروں یا نہ کروں
۲
جام پر جامِ ہلاہل یوں ہی پیتا جاؤں
محفلِ یار میں تکرار کروں یا نہ کروں
۳
ہے عجب حال کہ ناقوس ہے پیش و پس میں
سوئے احباب کو بیدار کروں یا نہ کروں
۵
گویا اِس سوچ میں ڈوبی ہے غزل کی کشتی
دل کے دریا کو ابھی پار کروں یا نہ کروں
۶
پھر وہی حرفِ جنوں سوزؔ کو لکھتا ہے سلام
دعوتِ ناز سے اِنکار کروں یا نہ کروں
इन्कार करूं या न करूं – कांति मोहन सोज़
नज़्र-ए फ़ैज़
१
शौक़-ए दीदार-ए रुख़-ए यार करूं या न करूं
हसरत-ए हासिल-ए अफ़्कार करूं या न करूं
२
जाम पर जाम-ए हलाहल यूं ही पीता जाऊं
महफ़िल-ए यार में तक्रार करूं या न करूं
३
है अजब हाल के नाक़ूस है पेश-ओ-पस में
सो’ए अहबाब को बेदार करूं या न करूं
५
गोया इस सोच में डूबी है ग़ज़ल की कश्ती
दिल के दर्या को अभी पार करूं या न करूं
६
फिर वही हर्फ़-ए जुनूं सोज़ को लिखता है सलाम
दावत-ए नाज़ से इन्कार करूं या न करूं
Click here for background and on any passage for word meanings and explanatory discussion. soz-kanti mohan (1935-xxxx), muraadabad and dehli. His life is illustrative of prevailing bigotry and the pull of urdu. His father went to school only up to 4th grade but read a lot – urdu, faarsi, hindi and sanskrit. His father wanted him to learn faarsi and urdu; was staunchly against communalism but the son joined RSS before 6th grade and was dead set against urdu. Never learnt urdu script. However his diction and pronunciation of urdu was strictly enforced by his urdu loving father. He got a PhD in hindi but his father was unhappy and considered him uneducated. During his PhD, he taught at a college, befriended a couple of urdu teachers, his love of urdu language surfaced, he got disillusioned with RSS and left the saNgh. First memory of poetic composition 1948 with many nazm on gandhi. Read classical shu’araa in naagiri script. BA in muradabad, MA and PhD in dehli. Joined the communist party (marxist) in 1964. Dedicates his book to ranadive, calling him ‘the greatest advocate of the democratic rights of urdu language’. He had published writings, which he classifies as urdu, in hindi magazines where it was largely ignored. Finally, his friends persuaded him to compile his Ghazal which he got published in urdu script, in 1990, even if he himself could not read or write it. This Ghazal uses the same radeef as faiz ahmed faiz and is titled as a tribute to faiz; uses a similar line of thought and composition. faiz in turn wrote his as a tribute to sauda. All three are posted on this site.
1
shauq1-e diidaar2-e ruKh3-e yaar4 karuN ya na karuN
hasrat5-e haasil6-e afkaar7 karuN ya na karuN 1.desire 2.sight, to see 3.face 4.friend, beloved 5.longing, yearning 6.result/product of 7.thoughts
Should I nurture the desire to see the beloved’s face or not? Should I yearn for the realization of all my thoughts and ideas or not? The sight of the beloved’s face is unattainable. Should the poet/lover/seeker continue to yearn for it and torture himself in agony or give up. But then … the ‘sight of the face of the beloved’ could be (a)vision of a just future or (b)his Ghazal, both of which can well be ‘haasil-e afkaar‘.
2
jaam1 par jaam-e halaahal2 yuN hii piita jaauN
mahfil3-e yaar4 meN takraar5 karuN ya na karuN 1.cup 2.poison 3.gathering 4.friends, or (sarcastically) the powerful/priveleged 5.dispute
Should I keep drinking cup after cup of poison i.e., keep quiet in the face of injustice, swallowing my pain or should I keep confronting/disputing in the gathering of the privileged (and face the consequences).
3
hai ajab1 haal2 keh naqoos3 hai p’esh-o-pas4 meN
so’e5 ahbaab6 ko bedaar7 karuN ya na karuN 1.strange 2.condition, state 3.conch shell, shaNkh 4.back and forth, hesitating 5.sleeping, apathetic 6.friends 7.awaken
The poet/resistance fighter is in a strage condition. He has a conch shell to blow and raise an alarm or make a declaration, but is hesitant. His friends/comrades are asleep, unaware or apathetic. Should he blow his conch shell and shake them out of their apathy? What will be the consequences of this? How much trouble will they get into?
4
hai ajab1 haal2 keh naqoos3 hai p’esh-o-pas4 meN
so’e5 ahbaab6 ko bedaar7 karuN ya na karuN 1.strange 2.condition, state 3.conch shell, shaNkh 4.back and forth, hesitating 5.sleeping, apathetic 6.friends 7.awaken
The poet/resistance fighter is in a strage condition. He has a conch shell to blow and raise an alarm or make a declaration, but is hesitant. His friends/comrades are asleep, unaware or apathetic. Should he blow his conch shell and shake them out of their apathy? What will be the consequences of this? How much trouble will they get into?
5
goya1 is soch2 meN Doobi3 hai Ghazal ki kashti4
dil ke darya5 ko abhi paar6 karuN ya na karuN 1.as if 2.thought 3.drowned, immersed 4.boat 5.river 6.cross
A strange condition this; it is as if the boat of this Ghazal is immersed in deep thought.
Should I cross the emotional river of the heart now or not? The creative process itself is in turmoil. The poet is unsure whether to proceed further into emotional depths or remain stuck in thought. Said faiz …
goya is soch meN hai dil meN lahu bhar ke gulaab
daaman-o-jeb ko gulnaar karuN ya na karuN
6
phir vahi harf1-e junuuN2 soz3 ko likhta hai salaam4
daa’vat5-e naaz6 se inkaar7 karuN ya na karuN 1.words of 2.madness/passion 3.poet’s pen name 4.salutations 5.invitation 6.pride/coquetry 7.refusal, turn down
Once again, the words of passionate madness call upon soz to find expression. Should I turn down this mischievous invitation or write. Said faiz …
jaane kis raNg meN tafseer kareN ahl-e-havas
madah zulf-o-lab-o-ruKhsaar karuN ya na karuN
soz-kanti mohan (1935-xxxx), muraadabad and dehli. His life is illustrative of prevailing bigotry and the pull of urdu. His father went to school only up to 4th grade but read a lot – urdu, faarsi, hindi and sanskrit. His father wanted him to learn faarsi and urdu; was staunchly against communalism but the son joined RSS before 6th grade and was dead set against urdu. Never learnt urdu script. However his diction and pronunciation of urdu was strictly enforced by his urdu loving father. He got a PhD in hindi but his father was unhappy and considered him uneducated. During his PhD, he taught at a college, befriended a couple of urdu teachers, his love of urdu language surfaced, he got disillusioned with RSS and left the saNgh. First memory of poetic composition 1948 with many nazm on gandhi. Read classical shu’araa in naagiri script. BA in muradabad, MA and PhD in dehli. Joined the communist party (marxist) in 1964. Dedicates his book to ranadive, calling him ‘the greatest advocate of the democratic rights of urdu language’. He had published writings, which he classifies as urdu, in hindi magazines where it was largely ignored. Finally, his friends persuaded him to compile his Ghazal which he got published in urdu script, in 1990, even if he himself could not read or write it. This Ghazal uses the same radeef as faiz ahmed faiz and is titled as a tribute to faiz; uses a similar line of thought and composition. faiz in turn wrote his as a tribute to sauda. All three are posted on this site.
1
shauq1-e diidaar2-e ruKh3-e yaar4 karuN ya na karuN
hasrat5-e haasil6-e afkaar7 karuN ya na karuN
1.desire 2.sight, to see 3.face 4.friend, beloved 5.longing, yearning 6.result/product of 7.thoughts
Should I nurture the desire to see the beloved’s face or not? Should I yearn for the realization of all my thoughts and ideas or not? The sight of the beloved’s face is unattainable. Should the poet/lover/seeker continue to yearn for it and torture himself in agony or give up. But then … the ‘sight of the face of the beloved’ could be (a)vision of a just future or (b)his Ghazal, both of which can well be ‘haasil-e afkaar‘.
2
jaam1 par jaam-e halaahal2 yuN hii piita jaauN
mahfil3-e yaar4 meN takraar5 karuN ya na karuN
1.cup 2.poison 3.gathering 4.friends, or (sarcastically) the powerful/priveleged 5.dispute
Should I keep drinking cup after cup of poison i.e., keep quiet in the face of injustice, swallowing my pain or should I keep confronting/disputing in the gathering of the privileged (and face the consequences).
3
hai ajab1 haal2 keh naqoos3 hai p’esh-o-pas4 meN
so’e5 ahbaab6 ko bedaar7 karuN ya na karuN
1.strange 2.condition, state 3.conch shell, shaNkh 4.back and forth, hesitating 5.sleeping, apathetic 6.friends 7.awaken
The poet/resistance fighter is in a strage condition. He has a conch shell to blow and raise an alarm or make a declaration, but is hesitant. His friends/comrades are asleep, unaware or apathetic. Should he blow his conch shell and shake them out of their apathy? What will be the consequences of this? How much trouble will they get into?
5
goya1 is soch2 meN Doobi3 hai Ghazal ki kashti4
dil ke darya5 ko abhi paar6 karuN ya na karuN
1.as if 2.thought 3.drowned, immersed 4.boat 5.river 6.cross
A strange condition this; it is as if the boat of this Ghazal is immersed in deep thought.
Should I cross the emotional river of the heart now or not? The creative process itself is in turmoil. The poet is unsure whether to proceed further into emotional depths or remain stuck in thought. Said faiz …
goya is soch meN hai dil meN lahu bhar ke gulaab
daaman-o-jeb ko gulnaar karuN ya na karuN
6
phir vahi harf1-e junuuN2 soz3 ko likhta hai salaam4
daa’vat5-e naaz6 se inkaar7 karuN ya na karuN
1.words of 2.madness/passion 3.poet’s pen name 4.salutations 5.invitation 6.pride/coquetry 7.refusal, turn down
Once again, the words of passionate madness call upon soz to find expression. Should I turn down this mischievous invitation or write. Said faiz …
jaane kis raNg meN tafseer kareN ahl-e-havas
madah zulf-o-lab-o-ruKhsaar karuN ya na karuN
The post inkaar karuN yaa na karuN – kaanti mohan soz appeared first on UrduShahkar.
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For word meanings and explanatory discussion in English click on the tabs marked “Roman” or “Notes”.
https://urdushahkar.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/kms-inkaar-karuN-yaa-na-karuN-audio.mp3
Recitation
اِنکار کروں یا نہ کروں ۔ کانتی موہن سوزؔ
نذرِ فیض
۱
شوقِ دیدارِ رخِ یار کروں یا نہ کروں
حسرتِ حاصلِ افکار کروں یا نہ کروں
۲
جام پر جامِ ہلاہل یوں ہی پیتا جاؤں
محفلِ یار میں تکرار کروں یا نہ کروں
۳
ہے عجب حال کہ ناقوس ہے پیش و پس میں
سوئے احباب کو بیدار کروں یا نہ کروں
۵
گویا اِس سوچ میں ڈوبی ہے غزل کی کشتی
دل کے دریا کو ابھی پار کروں یا نہ کروں
۶
پھر وہی حرفِ جنوں سوزؔ کو لکھتا ہے سلام
دعوتِ ناز سے اِنکار کروں یا نہ کروں
इन्कार करूं या न करूं – कांति मोहन सोज़
नज़्र-ए फ़ैज़
१
शौक़-ए दीदार-ए रुख़-ए यार करूं या न करूं
हसरत-ए हासिल-ए अफ़्कार करूं या न करूं
२
जाम पर जाम-ए हलाहल यूं ही पीता जाऊं
महफ़िल-ए यार में तक्रार करूं या न करूं
३
है अजब हाल के नाक़ूस है पेश-ओ-पस में
सो’ए अहबाब को बेदार करूं या न करूं
५
गोया इस सोच में डूबी है ग़ज़ल की कश्ती
दिल के दर्या को अभी पार करूं या न करूं
६
फिर वही हर्फ़-ए जुनूं सोज़ को लिखता है सलाम
दावत-ए नाज़ से इन्कार करूं या न करूं
Click here for background and on any passage for word meanings and explanatory discussion. soz-kanti mohan (1935-xxxx), muraadabad and dehli. His life is illustrative of prevailing bigotry and the pull of urdu. His father went to school only up to 4th grade but read a lot – urdu, faarsi, hindi and sanskrit. His father wanted him to learn faarsi and urdu; was staunchly against communalism but the son joined RSS before 6th grade and was dead set against urdu. Never learnt urdu script. However his diction and pronunciation of urdu was strictly enforced by his urdu loving father. He got a PhD in hindi but his father was unhappy and considered him uneducated. During his PhD, he taught at a college, befriended a couple of urdu teachers, his love of urdu language surfaced, he got disillusioned with RSS and left the saNgh. First memory of poetic composition 1948 with many nazm on gandhi. Read classical shu’araa in naagiri script. BA in muradabad, MA and PhD in dehli. Joined the communist party (marxist) in 1964. Dedicates his book to ranadive, calling him ‘the greatest advocate of the democratic rights of urdu language’. He had published writings, which he classifies as urdu, in hindi magazines where it was largely ignored. Finally, his friends persuaded him to compile his Ghazal which he got published in urdu script, in 1990, even if he himself could not read or write it. This Ghazal uses the same radeef as faiz ahmed faiz and is titled as a tribute to faiz; uses a similar line of thought and composition. faiz in turn wrote his as a tribute to sauda. All three are posted on this site.
1
shauq1-e diidaar2-e ruKh3-e yaar4 karuN ya na karuN
hasrat5-e haasil6-e afkaar7 karuN ya na karuN 1.desire 2.sight, to see 3.face 4.friend, beloved 5.longing, yearning 6.result/product of 7.thoughts
Should I nurture the desire to see the beloved’s face or not? Should I yearn for the realization of all my thoughts and ideas or not? The sight of the beloved’s face is unattainable. Should the poet/lover/seeker continue to yearn for it and torture himself in agony or give up. But then … the ‘sight of the face of the beloved’ could be (a)vision of a just future or (b)his Ghazal, both of which can well be ‘haasil-e afkaar‘.
2
jaam1 par jaam-e halaahal2 yuN hii piita jaauN
mahfil3-e yaar4 meN takraar5 karuN ya na karuN 1.cup 2.poison 3.gathering 4.friends, or (sarcastically) the powerful/priveleged 5.dispute
Should I keep drinking cup after cup of poison i.e., keep quiet in the face of injustice, swallowing my pain or should I keep confronting/disputing in the gathering of the privileged (and face the consequences).
3
hai ajab1 haal2 keh naqoos3 hai p’esh-o-pas4 meN
so’e5 ahbaab6 ko bedaar7 karuN ya na karuN 1.strange 2.condition, state 3.conch shell, shaNkh 4.back and forth, hesitating 5.sleeping, apathetic 6.friends 7.awaken
The poet/resistance fighter is in a strage condition. He has a conch shell to blow and raise an alarm or make a declaration, but is hesitant. His friends/comrades are asleep, unaware or apathetic. Should he blow his conch shell and shake them out of their apathy? What will be the consequences of this? How much trouble will they get into?
4
hai ajab1 haal2 keh naqoos3 hai p’esh-o-pas4 meN
so’e5 ahbaab6 ko bedaar7 karuN ya na karuN 1.strange 2.condition, state 3.conch shell, shaNkh 4.back and forth, hesitating 5.sleeping, apathetic 6.friends 7.awaken
The poet/resistance fighter is in a strage condition. He has a conch shell to blow and raise an alarm or make a declaration, but is hesitant. His friends/comrades are asleep, unaware or apathetic. Should he blow his conch shell and shake them out of their apathy? What will be the consequences of this? How much trouble will they get into?
5
goya1 is soch2 meN Doobi3 hai Ghazal ki kashti4
dil ke darya5 ko abhi paar6 karuN ya na karuN 1.as if 2.thought 3.drowned, immersed 4.boat 5.river 6.cross
A strange condition this; it is as if the boat of this Ghazal is immersed in deep thought.
Should I cross the emotional river of the heart now or not? The creative process itself is in turmoil. The poet is unsure whether to proceed further into emotional depths or remain stuck in thought. Said faiz …
goya is soch meN hai dil meN lahu bhar ke gulaab
daaman-o-jeb ko gulnaar karuN ya na karuN
6
phir vahi harf1-e junuuN2 soz3 ko likhta hai salaam4
daa’vat5-e naaz6 se inkaar7 karuN ya na karuN 1.words of 2.madness/passion 3.poet’s pen name 4.salutations 5.invitation 6.pride/coquetry 7.refusal, turn down
Once again, the words of passionate madness call upon soz to find expression. Should I turn down this mischievous invitation or write. Said faiz …
jaane kis raNg meN tafseer kareN ahl-e-havas
madah zulf-o-lab-o-ruKhsaar karuN ya na karuN
soz-kanti mohan (1935-xxxx), muraadabad and dehli. His life is illustrative of prevailing bigotry and the pull of urdu. His father went to school only up to 4th grade but read a lot – urdu, faarsi, hindi and sanskrit. His father wanted him to learn faarsi and urdu; was staunchly against communalism but the son joined RSS before 6th grade and was dead set against urdu. Never learnt urdu script. However his diction and pronunciation of urdu was strictly enforced by his urdu loving father. He got a PhD in hindi but his father was unhappy and considered him uneducated. During his PhD, he taught at a college, befriended a couple of urdu teachers, his love of urdu language surfaced, he got disillusioned with RSS and left the saNgh. First memory of poetic composition 1948 with many nazm on gandhi. Read classical shu’araa in naagiri script. BA in muradabad, MA and PhD in dehli. Joined the communist party (marxist) in 1964. Dedicates his book to ranadive, calling him ‘the greatest advocate of the democratic rights of urdu language’. He had published writings, which he classifies as urdu, in hindi magazines where it was largely ignored. Finally, his friends persuaded him to compile his Ghazal which he got published in urdu script, in 1990, even if he himself could not read or write it. This Ghazal uses the same radeef as faiz ahmed faiz and is titled as a tribute to faiz; uses a similar line of thought and composition. faiz in turn wrote his as a tribute to sauda. All three are posted on this site.
1
shauq1-e diidaar2-e ruKh3-e yaar4 karuN ya na karuN
hasrat5-e haasil6-e afkaar7 karuN ya na karuN
1.desire 2.sight, to see 3.face 4.friend, beloved 5.longing, yearning 6.result/product of 7.thoughts
Should I nurture the desire to see the beloved’s face or not? Should I yearn for the realization of all my thoughts and ideas or not? The sight of the beloved’s face is unattainable. Should the poet/lover/seeker continue to yearn for it and torture himself in agony or give up. But then … the ‘sight of the face of the beloved’ could be (a)vision of a just future or (b)his Ghazal, both of which can well be ‘haasil-e afkaar‘.
2
jaam1 par jaam-e halaahal2 yuN hii piita jaauN
mahfil3-e yaar4 meN takraar5 karuN ya na karuN
1.cup 2.poison 3.gathering 4.friends, or (sarcastically) the powerful/priveleged 5.dispute
Should I keep drinking cup after cup of poison i.e., keep quiet in the face of injustice, swallowing my pain or should I keep confronting/disputing in the gathering of the privileged (and face the consequences).
3
hai ajab1 haal2 keh naqoos3 hai p’esh-o-pas4 meN
so’e5 ahbaab6 ko bedaar7 karuN ya na karuN
1.strange 2.condition, state 3.conch shell, shaNkh 4.back and forth, hesitating 5.sleeping, apathetic 6.friends 7.awaken
The poet/resistance fighter is in a strage condition. He has a conch shell to blow and raise an alarm or make a declaration, but is hesitant. His friends/comrades are asleep, unaware or apathetic. Should he blow his conch shell and shake them out of their apathy? What will be the consequences of this? How much trouble will they get into?
5
goya1 is soch2 meN Doobi3 hai Ghazal ki kashti4
dil ke darya5 ko abhi paar6 karuN ya na karuN
1.as if 2.thought 3.drowned, immersed 4.boat 5.river 6.cross
A strange condition this; it is as if the boat of this Ghazal is immersed in deep thought.
Should I cross the emotional river of the heart now or not? The creative process itself is in turmoil. The poet is unsure whether to proceed further into emotional depths or remain stuck in thought. Said faiz …
goya is soch meN hai dil meN lahu bhar ke gulaab
daaman-o-jeb ko gulnaar karuN ya na karuN
6
phir vahi harf1-e junuuN2 soz3 ko likhta hai salaam4
daa’vat5-e naaz6 se inkaar7 karuN ya na karuN
1.words of 2.madness/passion 3.poet’s pen name 4.salutations 5.invitation 6.pride/coquetry 7.refusal, turn down
Once again, the words of passionate madness call upon soz to find expression. Should I turn down this mischievous invitation or write. Said faiz …
jaane kis raNg meN tafseer kareN ahl-e-havas
madah zulf-o-lab-o-ruKhsaar karuN ya na karuN
The post inkaar karuN yaa na karuN – kaanti mohan soz appeared first on UrduShahkar.