Chashmay Mastay Ajabay Lyrics & Meaning – Amir Khusro

“Chashmay Mastay Ajabay” is one of the most ecstatic Persian Ghazals by Amir Khusro. This Kalam gained worldwide immortality through the legendary renditions of Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, whose performances often evoke a state of spiritual wonder. Khusro masterfully uses Ishq-e-Majazi to describe the intoxicating beauty of the Divine; a theme he further explores in his other famous work Nigar-e Sarv Qaday. This specific imagery of the “mischievous glance” and “cypress stature” is a hallmark of the Persian tradition, closely mirroring the aesthetic found in Gul Az Rukhat Amokhta by Maulana Jami, where every flower in the garden is said to have learned its color from the Beloved’s face.

چشم مست عجبی
زلف دراز عجبی
مئے پرستی عجبی
فتنہ طراز عجبی

Chashmay mastay ajabay
Zulf daraazay ajabay
Mai-parastay ajabay
Fitna taraazay ajabay

An extraordinary intoxicated eye
An extraordinary long tress
An extraordinary wine-worshipper
An extraordinary mischief-maker

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بہر قتلم چوں کشد
تیغ نہم سر بسجود
او بہ ناز عجبی
من بہ نیاز عجبی

Bahar-e qatlam chu kashad
Tegh neham sar ba sujud
Uba naaz-e ajabay
Mun ba niyaz-e ajabay

When He draws the sword to slay me
I place my head in prostration
He with an extraordinary elegance
I with an extraordinary humility

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صید کردی دل عالم
چہ تماشا کر دی
دیدہ بازی عجبی
زلف دراز عجبی

Said kardi dil-e-alam
Che tamasha kardi
Deeda baazay ajabay
Zulf daraazay ajabay

You have hunted the hearts of the world
What a spectacle You have made
An extraordinary glance of the eye
An extraordinary long tress

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بوالعجب حسن و جمال
و خط و خال و گیسو
سرو قد عجبی
قامت ناز عجبی

Bu’l ajab husn-o-jamal
O khat-o-khaal-o-geesu
Sarv qadday ajabay
Qaamat-e naazay ajabay

Extraordinary is the beauty and grace
The Fine Features, the beauty marks, and the tresses
An extraordinary cypress-like stature
An extraordinary elegant height

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وقت بسمل شدنم
چشم بر ویش باز است
مہربانی عجبی
بندہ نواز عجبی

Waqt-e bismil shudanam
Chashm bar rooyash baaz ast
Mehrbaanay ajabay
Banda nawaazay ajabay

At the moment of my sacrifice
My eyes are open toward His face
An extraordinary kindness
An extraordinary cherisher of servants

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حق مگو کلمہ کفر ست
درینجا خسرو
راز دانی عجبی
صاحب راز عجبی

Haq magu kalma-e-kufr ast
Dareen ja Khusrau
Raaz daanay ajabay
Sahib-e-raazay ajabay

Do not speak of the Truth (Haq), it is a word of heresy
In this place, O Khusrau
An extraordinary knower of secrets
An extraordinary master of mysteries

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Watch the legendary performance of this Ghazal by Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan: