Dil darta hay by usama ansari

About this novel

Dil Darta Hay (Urdu: دل ڈرتا ہے) by Usama Ansari is a reflective romantic Urdu novel about love, fear and the human heart. It begins not with a scene but with a confession: the heart is pure, and we make it impure ourselves. The title means the heart is afraid.

After every sin, the writer says, we tell ourselves it’s fine, it happened once and we won’t do it again, and so the cycle goes on. When Allah is displeased with us, He takes away even the ability to bow in sajda. We go to the mosque, but our hearts aren’t in the prayer; we stand on the prayer mat while our minds are somewhere else. We can’t blame anyone, because we are the sinners. Ask the greatest teacher whether they are completely free of sin, and they won’t be able to say yes.

اب وہ بات ہی کہاں رہی ہے محبتوں میں — پہلے زمانے میں عاشق کا زخم معشوق کو لگتا تھا۔

Then he turns to love in today’s world. Everyone is chasing someone, he writes. Ask the girl and she says the boy was unfaithful; ask the boy and he blames the girl. Promises are made and broken, a boy asks “how much do you trust me?” and the girl answers “more than myself”. Weddings happen, people move on, and nobody dies of separation anymore. Everyone is just waiting for a chance to leave. And still no one has answered the real question: who is the bewafa?

That question carries into the story. Usman is sitting in his room with a book, thinking about exactly this, when his mother comes in. Usama Ansari mixes social commentary, faith and romance, and the opening makes it clear this will be a love story that also asks hard questions about loyalty and sincerity.

You can read Dil Darta Hay online here or download the complete PDF for free. More by Usama Ansari: Mohabat Or Sakoon, Kafir Or Musalman and Muhabbat Ka Khel, or see all Usama Ansari novels.