Song lyrics

The storm

📜 Lyrics

A cloud has risen from the West, the season of drinking has come There is a tender grace in the dance, an enchanting coquetry, O bestower of charm Yes, dance on and sing on, steal hearts with your glances Make them yearn, make them yearn, O enemy of this world and faith! Your swaying is beautiful, your gestures captivate the heart But tell me, who are you, O half-naked enchantress? Are you an Eastern woman? Never, never! Your laughter is shameless, your gaze is cunning Alas, how heart-wrenching is your mercenary speech How lustful is this simple artfulness of yours Women of modesty and honor are the possessors of chastity They are the princesses of beauty, dwelling in the sanctum of the veil The eye of heaven has never glimpsed their radiance Shame and honor are the ornament of their beauty They endure their husband's sorrows without a whispered word They never come forward, they withdraw from jealousy's call The nation's honor rests in them, the name of virtue comes from them They are steadfast in faith, pure and observant they are You have no shame nor modesty, you have no love nor fidelity Tell me truly, who are you, O shameless one, who are you? Why have you no sense of honor, why no shame and jealousy? These enchanting wiles of yours before strange men Step away from here, be rejected, be disgraced You are destiny's mockery, you are Satan's daughter Whatever nation has women like you, that nation is cursed But wait a moment, it is not your fault alone There is no honor left in men, no national pride remains That community once was the light of the entire world The assemblies of Islam, the monarch of Pakistan Now there is no vigor left in it, we are nothing, we are nothing National politics has ceased, the strength of the arm has ceased Where now the glory of Hijaz, where now that Turkish might Now the zeal of Ghazni has gone, now the splendor of Babar has gone The universal faith of Islam has departed from the Muslim's heart The nation has become inflictors of cruelty, honor has become a beggar's trade Now the color is different, it is an age of shamelessness This nation is now destined to perish, this people are now destined to be beaten Alas for this Pakistan! This garden bearing the mark of Paradise! The homeland of the faithful, the homeland of the obedient It will remain in ruins again, it will become an idol-temple again But what delusion afflicts me, why is my speech so disjointed Thus do I lose myself, thus does madness overtake me I have become so drunk that I have lost my reason and sense I have no concern for the times, no concern for destruction or ruin What is my business with Pakistan, what my anxiety about the end Let me live, let me live, let me drink, let me drink When the day of reckoning comes, then shall it be seen Yes, dance on and sing on, steal hearts with your glances Make them yearn, make them yearn, O enemy of this world and faith!

💡 Meaning & story

Poem "The Dancer": An Introduction - Written by Hafeez Jalandhari 1900-1982 This poem is not merely a tale of a dancing woman, but rather a story of the collision between East and West. Hafeez Jalandhari has employed "the Dancer" as a symbol, representing this transformed civilization that has cast aside Islamic and Eastern values. ________________________________________ Key Points and Interpretation (Key Breakdown) 1. The Civilizational Onslaught (The Cloud from the West) The poem begins with a profound metaphor: "A cloud has risen from the West." Here, the cloud does not mean rain, but rather that storm of waywardness coming from the West, which has veiled the East's gravity and modesty. The poet presents himself as a drunkard who has lost himself in this revelry, yet whose conscience writhes in anguish. 2. Woman as Symbol and National Honor When the poet witnesses the Dancer's audacity and semi-naked attire, he recalls the "chaste" princesses of his history. • Contrast: On one hand there is a woman who "dances before strangers," and on the other are virtuous women who were the pride of the nation. • Harsh tone: The poet's calling the Dancer "the Devil's daughter" is essentially an outburst of rage that seizes a man of honor watching his civilization trampled. 3. The Callousness of Men (The True Tragedy) The poem's greatest turning point comes when the poet says: "The fault is not yours; there is no honor left in men." The poet understands that the woman's waywardness is actually the result of men's weakness and the death of national pride. When the valor of Ghazni, the magnificence of Babar, and the faith of Aurangzeb departed from hearts, the nation became mere spectators. 4. The Grandeur of the Past and the Debasement of the Present By mentioning the "Luminous Nation," Hafeez Jalandhari reminds us that we were once those who brought light to the world, yet now "the game is nearly finished." India, which was "Paradise-like," now stands on the brink of ruin. 5. Escape and Despair The poem's ending is deeply tragic. When the poet realizes that changing circumstances is beyond his power, he returns once again to drinking and this very dance: "Let me drink, let me drink." This is the voice of a defeated mind that seeks intoxication to escape the bitterness of reality. This phrase—"When the Day of Judgment comes, then we shall see"—expresses such profound despair that man abandons all hope of reform. ________________________________________ A Message for the Audience (The Message) "This song is not merely a tale of dance, but rather an attempt to shake our slumbering honor awake. It shows what becomes of a nation that loses its true identity and falls into frivolity and games. Where Hafeez Jalandhari has struck at the Dancer's audacity, there too he holds up a mirror showing us that the guilty party is not she alone, but rather that society which has bartered away its honor."