Aafreen Afreen Lyrics Translation | Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan

Album: Sangam (1996)
Music: Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan
Lyrics: Javed Akhtar
Singer: Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan
Music Label: Saregama HMV

This is the original song by Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, sung for the album called Sangam, with Lisa Ray featuring in the video. The song has been remade by Coke Studio where Rahat Fateh Ali Khan has sung it as a ballad at a much slower pace than the original, along with Momina Mustehsan. These are the lyrics for the original song, and only the first couple of paras, (jism and chehra) have been used in the Coke Studio version.

husn-e-jaanaa ki taareef mumkin nahi
aafreen aafreen, afreen afreen
tu bhi dekhe agar to kahe ham-nasheeN
afreen afreen, aafreen aafreen

It's not even possible to praise the beauty of my beloved
Praise to the Creator, Praise to the Maker,
Even if you see (my beloved), you would say the same.
Praise to the Creator, Praise to the Maker..

aisa dekha nahi khoobsoorat koi
jism jaise Ajanta ki moorat koi
jism jaise nigaahoN pe jaadoo koi
jism naghma koi, jism khushboo koi
jism jaise machalti hui raagini
jism jaise mehakti hui chaandni
jism jaise ke khiltaa hua ek chaman
jism jaise sooraj ki pehli kiran
jism tarshaa hua dilkash-o-dil-nasheeN
sandali sandalee..
marmari marmaree..

I have never seen anyone so beautiful
her body is like some statue of Ajanta Caves
her body is like a spell on eyes
her body is like some beautiful song, like some fragrance,
her body is like a tilting rhythm,
her body is like fragrant moonlight,
her body is like a blossoming garden
her body is like the first rays of the Sun
her body is like a carved statue, heart-arresting,
Like (the fragrant) sandalwood..
Like the white marble..

chehra ek phool ki tarah shaadaab hai
chehra uskaa hai ya koi mahtaab hai
chehra jaise ghazal, chehraa jaan-e-ghazal
chehra jaise kali, chehraa jaise kanval
chehra jaise tasavvur ki tasveer bhi
chehra ek khwaab bhi chehraa taabeer bhi

Her face is fresh as flower
Is it her face or the moon?
her face is like a Ghazal, face is like the life of a Ghazal
Her face is like a bud, face is like a lotus flower,
Her face is like a face given to imaginations,
That face is like a dream, and its interpretation too.

chehra koi alif laila ki daastaaN
chehra ek pal yakeen, chehraa ek pal gumaaN
chehra jaise ke chehraa koi bhi nahi,
Maah-roo maah-roo
MahjabeeN mahjabeeN..

Her face is like some tale from Alif Laila
(Alif Laila has a lot of fairies etc. in its tails, so he's calling her a fairy.)
For one moment it's real and in a moment it's an imagination,
Her face is like no other,
With a face like moon,
With a forehead like moon.

aankhein dekhi to mein dekhtha reh gaya
Jaam do aur donon hi do aatishaaN
aankhein ya maikade ki yeh do baab haiN
aankhein inko kahoon ya kahoon khwaab haiN
aankhein neechi huyiN to haya ban gayiN
aankhein oonchi huyiN to dua ban gayiN
aankhein uTh kar jhukeeN to adaa ban gayiN
aankhein jhuk kar uTheeN to sazaa ban gayiN
aankhein jin mein hai qaid aasman-o-zameen
Nargisi nargisi,
Surmayi surmayi...

When I saw her eyes I was transfixed
They are two cups of wine, both of them ablaze
Are these eyes, or two doors to a winehouse
Shall I call them eyes or dreams
When the eyes looked down, they became shyness itself,
When they looked up, they became a prayer.
When they looked down after looking up, it was her style.
When they looked up after a downward glance, it became a punishment.
Eyes, in which the sky and earth are captured,
(eyes) like the flower of nargis,
grey, like the eye-kohl..

zulf-e-jaana ki bhi lambi hai daastan
zulf ki mere dil par haiN parchhaaiyaan
zulf jaise ke uljhi hui ho ghaTa
zulf jaise ke ho koi kaalee balaa
zulf uljhe to duniyaa pareshaan ho
zulf suljhe to ye geet aasaan ho
zulf bikhre siyaah raat chhaane lage
zulf lehraaye to raat gaane lage
zulf zanjeer hai phir bhi kitni haseeN
reshamee reshamee
ambaree ambaree...

The story of the (long) tresses of beloved is long too.
These tresses have their shadows on my heart
Tresses, like dark clouds entangled in themselves,
Tresses, like some black specter
When tresses get entangled, the world gets troubled,
When tresses become straight, this song becomes easy,
When tresses spread, the black night starts looming over,
When tresses sway, the night starts singing,
The tresses are like some chain, but still so beautiful
So Silky, So much like the sky...

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