din-bhar coffee-house mein baithe kuchh duble-patle naqqad
bahs yahi karte rahte hain sust adab ki hai raftar

sirf adab ke gham mein ghaltan chalne phirne se lachaar
chehron se zahir hota hai jaise barson ke bimar

urdu-adab mein dhai hain shaer 'mir' o 'ghaalib' aadha 'josh'
ya ik-adh kisi ka misra ya 'iqbaal' ke chand ashaar

ya phir nazm hai ek chuhe par hamid-'madni' ka shahkar
koi nahin hai achchha shaer koi nahin afsana-nigar

'manto' 'kirshn' 'nadim' aur 'bedi' in mein jaan to hai lekin
aib ye hai in ke hathon mein kund zaban ki hai talwar

'ali' afsar 'insha' babu 'nasir' 'mir' ke bar-khurdar
'faiz' ne jo ab tak likkha hai kya likkha hai sab be-kar

un ko adab ki sehhat ka gham mujh ko un ki sehhat ka
ye bechaare dukh ke mare jine se hain kyun be-zar

husn se wahshat ishq se nafrat apni hi surat se pyar
khanda-e-gul par ek tabassum girya-e-shabnam se inkar