sabza sabza sukh rahi hai phiki zard dopahar
diwaron ko chat raha hai tanhai ka zahr

dur ufuq tak ghatti badhti uthti rahti hai
kohr ki surat be-raunaq dardon ki gadli lahr

basta hai is kohr ke pichhe raushniyon ka shahr
city of lights

ai raushniyon ke shahr
on each patch of green, from one shade to the next,

the noon is erasing itself by wiping out all color,
becoming pale, desolation everywhere,

the poison of exile painted on the walls.
in the distance,

there are terrible sorrows, like tides:
they draw back, swell, become full, subside.

they've turned the horizon to mist.
and behind that mist is the city of lights,

my city of many lights.
kaun kahe kis samt hai teri raushniyon ki rah

har jaanib be-nur khadi hai hijr ki shahr-panah
thak kar har su baith rahi hai shauq ki mand sipah

how will i return to you, my city,
where is the road to your lights? my hopes

are in retreat, exhausted by these unlit, broken walls,
and my heart, their leader, is in terrible doubt.

aaj mera dil fikr mein hai
ai raushniyon ke shahr

shab-khun se munh pher na jae armanon ki rau
khair ho teri lailaon ki un sab se kah do

aaj ki shab jab diye jalaen unchi rakkhen lau
but let all be well, my city, if under

cover of darkness, in a final attack,
my heart leads its reserves of longings

and storms you tonight. just tell all your lovers
to turn the wicks of their lamps high

so that i may find you, oh city,
my city of many lights.