ye raaz-e-jindagi kya hai
hakikat hai ya hai sapna
khushiya to gai, na gam ab aa
na dil apna, na dard apna
ye raaz-e-jindagi kya hai
hakikat hai ya hai sapna
ye raaz-e-jindagi kya hai

kaha gaya bachpan mera
o runjhun, o runjhun
o runjhun runjhun ja
dhul dhare sab ang the
dhul dahi de dhaal
machal kar god me ma se
kahani chaand ki sunna
hakikat hai ya hai sapna
ye raaz-e-jindagi kya hai
hakikat hai ya hai sapna
ye raaz-e-jindagi kya hai

jaha me sabse aala hai
to hai mausam jawani ka
fida hai husn bhi jis par
vo hai aalam jawani ka
ke dam bharti hai dambhar ke liye
shabnam jawani ka
chiraago se nasha jaisa
suna hardam jawani ka
bahut mushkil hai, bahut mushkil hai
iski bedaag ki dahli se bach lena
hakikat hai ya hai sapna

ye raaz-e-jindagi kya hai
hakikat hai ya hai sapna
ye raaz-e-jindagi kya hai

ye raaz-e-jindagi kya hai
hakikat hai ya hai sapna
khushiya to gai, na gam ab aa
na dil apna, na dard apna

What secret is this life?
A truth, or but a dream’s guise?
Joy has fled, grief does not arrive,
No heart is mine, no pain to prize.
What secret is this life?
A truth, or but a dream’s guise?
What secret is this life?

Where has my childhood flown?
Oh, tinkling, oh, tinkling sound,
Oh, tinkling, tinkling, gone.
Dust upon every limb,
Washed with curdled dust I’d roam,
To twist and turn, within my mother's arms,
And listen to the moon's tale.
A truth, or but a dream’s guise?
What secret is this life?
A truth, or but a dream’s guise?
What secret is this life?

Most exalted in this world,
Is the season of youth's command.
Beauty itself, it is enthralled,
By the world of youthful hand.
For a moment it takes its breath,
Like the dew, youth's fleeting strand.
As if drunk from burning lamps,
I heard always of youth's command.
So very hard, oh so very hard,
To escape its threshold's stain.
A truth, or but a dream’s guise?

What secret is this life?
A truth, or but a dream’s guise?
What secret is this life?

What secret is this life?
A truth, or but a dream’s guise?
Joy has fled, grief does not arrive,
No heart is mine, no pain to prize.