S. R. Faruqi:

(1) Whoever has gazed at your face even once will live in perpetual wonder.
Whoever has become attached to your long hair will remain distracted, deranged, forever.

(2) True, I did make her a promise to return with the first breath of morning--
well, if breath remains in my body too until that time.

(3) The rich man made a house on the foundation of tyranny
but like a guest he won't stay there longer than a night or two.

(4) Executioner, please! Deliver just one blow and release me from all stress and pain.
I will humbly acknowledge my debt to you until doomsday.

(5) Head and sword will cling to each other always in the vast arena of love.
This battlefield won't ever be empty until the crack of doom.

(6) The tumult raised by my poetry will never abate.
My divan of poetry will abide in the world until the day of reckoning.

(7) It wasn't something negligible, the act of giving away his heart, that Mir committed.
He will reproach himself for it so long as he lives.

 

FWP:

(inspired by SRF's translation)

(1) Whoever sees your face will stay amazed,
The one bound up by your curls will stay disordered.

(2) I promised her that I'd come at the first breath of dawn, but
Only if the breath stays in my body.

(3) On a foundation of oppression, the benefactor built his house
But he'll only stay a few nights as a guest there.

(4) I'd be freed from trouble-- give me just one blow, Executioner!
The burden of gratitude will stay on my head till Doomsday.

(5) In the desert of love, the head and the sword will stay intertwined--
Till Doomsday, this field will never stay deserted.

(6) The tumult of my poetry is not something that will ever go away,
My divan will stay in the world till Doomsday.

(7) Giving away his heart was not something he took lightly.
As long as he lives, Mir will stay regretful.

 

Zahra Sabri:

Zahra Sabri is a special guest translator for this site.

(1) The one who gazes upon your face – he will remain wonderstruck
The one who is intimately acquainted with your tresses – his senses will remain in disarray

(2) I did promise to come to her at the break of dawn, but
Let’s see if I, too, remain alive till that moment

(3) Laying down a foundation of injustice, the affluent one did construct a house
But he himself will remain a guest here no more than a few nights

(4) So that I may be freed from my distress, O executioner, render one single fatal blow
Till doomsday, I will remain indebted for this favour

(5) In the desert of love, head and sword will remain in a close embrace
Till the day of resurrection, this field will not remain deserted

(6) The commotion of my words will never ever cease
Till doomsday, my book of poetry will remain in this world

(7) Giving away his heart was no trifling act he committed*
As long as Mir lives, he will remain remorseful

['Aisi' here seems to have been used in the kind of sense where a modern Urdu speaker is perhaps more likely to favour ‘aisi hi si’ or ‘aisi waisi’ or ‘aise hi’, i.e. insignificant, or negligible, or of indifferent worth, or indifferently.]