Kafir Ishqm Musalmani Mera Darkar Naist Lyrics & Meaning – Amir Khusro

“Kafir Ishqm Musalmani Mera Darkar Naist” is arguably the most defiant and celebrated Persian Ghazal by Amir Khusro. In this ecstatic Kalam, Khusro declares himself an “infidel of love,” suggesting that the intensity of his devotion has rendered external labels unnecessary—a sentiment famously echoed by Shah Niaz in his Urdu masterpiece Kafir e Ishq Houn Main Banda e Islam Nahin. This state of spiritual “Awarapan” or wandering outside the bounds of ritual is a hallmark of the Sufi path, deeply resonating with the soul-stirring cries of Shah Hussain in Maaye Ni Main Kinu Aakhan, where the seeker abandons the world for the wilderness of the Beloved. Such total surrender of identity is the essence of Fana (Annihilation), where the lover finds the Divine not in the temple or mosque, but within the scars of their own heart.

کافر عشقم مسلمانی مرا درکار نیست
ہر رگ من تار گشتہ حاجت زنار نیست

Kafir ishqm Musalmani mera darkar naist
Har rag-e-mun taar gashta hajat-e-zanaar naist

I am an infidel of love; I have no need for outward Islam
Every vein of mine has become a thread; I have no need for a sacred girdle

---

از سر بالیں من بر خیز اے نادان طبیب
درد مند عشق را دارو بجز دیدار نیست

Az sar-e-baaleen-e-mun bar khaiz ay nadan tabeeb
Dard mand-e-ishq ra daroo bajuz-e-didar naist

Rise from my bedside, O ignorant physician!
For the one suffering from the sickness of love, there is no medicine except the Vision

---

ابر را با دیدۂ گریان من نسبت مکن
نسبتت با رود کے باران خونبار نیست

Abr ra ba dida-e-giryaan-e-mun nisbat makun
Nisbat-e-ba roud-e-kay baran-e-khoonbar naist

Do not compare the clouds to my weeping eyes
For the rain has no comparison to this river of blood-stained tears

---

شاد اے دل کہ فردا برسر بازار عشق
مژدۂ قتل ست گرچہ وعدئے دیدار نیست

Shaad ay dil ke farda bar sar-e-bazar-e-ishq
Muzda-e-qatl ast garcha waada-e-didar naist

Rejoice, O heart! For tomorrow in the marketplace of love
There is tidings of your execution, even if there is no promise of the Vision

---

خلق می گوید کہ خسرو بت پرستی میکند
آرے آرے میکنم با خلق عالم کار نیست

Khalq migoyand ke Khusrau but-parasti mikunad
Aaray aaray mikunam ba khalq-e-alam kaar naist

People say that Khusrau is a worshipper of idols
Yes, yes, I am! I have nothing to do with the people of the world