Dream
Sapna (2023) by Bayaan, Rovalio, Sherazam
my love, i wander along the river admiting my heart can't go on without you i want to live in your memories to wander in your pathways— i can't sleep without you for i keep dreaming of you i wish different timelines of meeting you, so come back & i'll weave them in rhythm and write you a song to live in your memories to wander in your pathways— i can't sleep without you for i keep dreaming of you
Urdu Lyrics
جانِ جاناں جانے کیوں پھرتا آوارہ ہوں ندیا سنگ رے مانا مانا میں نے نہ دل کا گزارہ ہوتا بن تیرے تیری یادوں میں جینا میں چاہوں تیری راہوں میں کھونا تیرے بن کہاں نیند آئے کہ دیکھوں بس تیرا سپنا رکھے میں نے سرہانے کتنے زمانے ارماں ملنے کے آ جاؤ جو میں ان کو گیت بناؤں دھن میں پرو کے تیری یادوں میں جینا میں چاہوں تیری راہوں میں کھونا تیرے بن کہاں نیند آئے کہ دیکھوں بس تیرا سپنا تیری یادوں میں جینا میں چاہوں تیری راہوں میں کھونا تیرے بن کہاں نیند آئے کہ دیکھوں بس تیرا سپنا
Transliteration
jaan e jaana, jany kyu phirta aawara hoon nadiya sang ray maana maana mein ny na dil ka guzara hota bin teray teri yaadon mein jena mein chahon teri raahon mein khona teray bin kahan neendh aye Ky dekhon bas tera sapna rakhy mein ny sarhanay kitnay zamany armah milnay k aa jao jo mein in ko geet banao dhun mein phiro gye teri yaad'on mein jeena mein chahon teri raah'on mein khona teray bin mahan neend aye kay dekhon bas tera sapna
Word of the day
آرمان — armaan (masculine, singular noun)
meaning: wish, hope, desire
Armaan in Urdu is a frozen noun (اسم جامد — ism-e-jamid) loaned from Turkish, meaning that it does not make any other derivates and exists only in its original form. It’s an ironic category for a word denoting longing and yearning for it remains unrealized and fails to convert into another form; a linguistic yearning, if you will.

Thoughts
In English, “dream” can be both a noun and a verb: something to hold and something to do. In Urdu, “sapna” is only a noun—solid, in your hands, a thing to possess. The song originally dances around it, treating it as a scenario to be in rather than holding it to wish it to happen. By translating this song, all such nouns changed into verbs that make the dream sound achievable and doable.
It sounds further away in Urdu.
Moreover, the transitions in the lyrics are unique. The song takes the end word of a thought and uses it as a starting word for the next thought, bleeding it into rhythm and connecting it all. It makes it intoxicating and makes you want to listen to it again. To somehow preserve this feeling, I used enjambment in my translation, a literary technique where a sentence is divided midway in poetry.
It is a post-breakup song, universal in its regret, wish for chances to make amends, and feelings of aimlessness and loneliness; about nostalgia and wanting to go back; but lamenting of being unable to make art from such happy moments—out of guilt or, perhaps, shame.
ABOUT. Bayaan is an alternative-rock/contemporary-pop band from Lahore, Pakistan and consists of Asfar Hussain, Haider Abbas, Mansoor Lashari, Shahrukh Aslam, and Muqueet Shahzad. Rovalio is a billboard-chart-topping producer from Gilgit, Pakistan. Sherazam is a musician from Lahore, Pakistan and Sapna is his debut.
i love bayaan and this song
Wow💜