For word meanings and explanatory discussion in English click on the tabs marked “Roman” or “Notes”.
Recitation
رنگِ بیاں اپنا ۔ مُرلی دھر شادؔ
۱
نہ کوئی مہرباں اپنا نہ کوئی رازداں اپنا
جسے سمجھے تھے اپنا دل وہ دل بھی اب کہاں اپنا
۲
جو ہو چشمِ کرم تیری جو ہو تو مہرباں اپنا
زمیں اپنی فلک اپنا مکیں اپنے مکاں اپنا
۳
وہ لے کر آئینہ بیٹھے تھے لینے امتحاں اپنا
کیا ہاتھوں سے اپنے دامنِ دل دھجیاں اپنا
۴
بھٹکتے پھر رہے ہیں جستجوئے یار میں اب تک
کہیں ٹِکنے نہیں دیتا ہمیں وہم و گماں اپنا
۵
جوانی میں کسے نیکی بدی کا ہوش ہوتا ہے
جوانی میں نہیں کچھ سوجھتا سود و زیاں اپنا
۶
زمانے نے وہ کروٹ لی مری دنیا بدل ڈالی
نہ اب ہے رازداں کوئی نہ کوئی مہرباں اپنا
۷
کسی کو یاد ہم آتے نہیں اس انجمن میں اب
بحمداللہ ذکرِ خیر رہتا تھا جہاں اپنا
۸
وہ گل ہیں ہم گلستاں سے اڑے یوں بوئے گل بن کر
نہ ڈھونڈے سے ملا گلچیں کو پھر نام و نشاں اپنا
۹
مزا استاد کے شعروں کا ہم کو شادؔ آتا ہے
وہ ہے طرزِ سخن اپنی وہ ہے رنگِ بیاں اپنا
रंग-ए बयाँ अपना – मुर्लीधर शाद
१
न कोई मेहरबाँ अपना न कोई राज़्दाँ अपना
जिसे समझे थे अपना दिल वो दिल भी अब कहाँ अपना
२
जो हो चश्म-ए करम तेरी जो हो तू मेहरबाँ अपना
ज़मीं अपनी फ़लक अपना मकीं अपने मकाँ अपना
३
वो ले कर आइना बैठे थे लेने इम्तहाँ अपना
किया हाथों से अपने दामन-ए दिल धज्जियाँ अपना
४
भटकते फिर रहे हैं जुस्तुजू-ए यार में अब तक
कहीं टिकने नहीं देता हमें वहम-ओ-गुमाँ अपना
५
जवानी में किसे नेकी बदी का होश होता है
जवानी में नहीं कुछ सूझता सूद-ओ-ज़ियाँ अपना
६
ज़माने ने वो कर्वट ली मेरी दुनिया बदल डाली
न अब है राज़्दाँ कोई न कोई मेहरबाँ अपना
७
किसी को याद हम आते नहीं इस अंजुमन में अब
ब-हम्दिल्लाह ज़िक्र-ए ख़ैर रहता था जहाँ अपना
८
वो गुल हैं हम गुलिस्ताँ से उड़े यूँ बू-ए गुल बन कर
न ढूँडे से मिला गुलचीं को फिर नाम-ओ-निशाँ अपना
९
मज़ा उस्ताद के शे’रों का हम को शाद आता है
वो है तर्ज़-ए सुख़न अपनी वो है रंग-ए-बयाँ अपना
Click here for background and on any passage for word meanings and explanatory discussion. murli dhar shaad (~1910?-1950). His diivaan was published posthumously by his uncle, shaNkar lal shaNkar, who was himself a shaa’er and died soon afterwards (~1952). shaad’s father, founder of lyallpur mills and later DCM, established the ‘shaNkar-shaad Memorial Trust’ which organizes annual hind-pak mushaa’era (with political interruptions in 1965 and covid in 2020), aimed at promoting urdu and communal harmony. shaad also organized annual mushaa’era in lyallpur in the 1940s inviting shu’ara from all over India, for the employees of the textile mills. This Ghazal is in the zamin of Ghalib’s ‘zikr us parivash ka aur phir bayaaN apna’.
1
na koi mehrbaaN1 apna na koi raaz-daaN2 apna
jise samjhe the apna dil vo dil bhi ab kahaaN apna 1.benefactor, helper 2.confidant
There is none who is my helper. None who I can trust with whom I can share my secrets (pain). Normally, the heart would fill these roles. But even the heart which I used to consider my own, is no longer mine (the beloved has stolen it).
2
jo ho chashm-e-karam1 teri jo ho tu mehrbaaN2 apna
zamiN apni falak3 apna makiiN4 apne makaaN5 apna 1.glance of kindness 2.kind, favourable 3.sky 4.resident 5.home
Here ‘makaaN’ is the heart of the poet/lover. If the beloved were to look at him with kindness/love and if she were to show him favours, then the earth and sky would belong to him, the resident of the heart (the beloved) as well as his own heart would be his.
3
vo le kar aa’ina baiThe the lene imtehaaN1 apna
kiya haathoN se apne daaman2-e dil dhajjiyaaN3 apna 1.test 2.hem of the robe 3.shreds
In using ‘daaman-e dil’, the poet is personified the heart enough to give it a robe to wear. ‘daaman dhajjiyaaN’ karna to shred one’s clothes (like majnuN) is a sign of extreme distress in passion. Thus, the beloved is bent upon testing the poet/lover. She is holding a mirror looking at herself, adorning herself. This act, in itself, is enough to arouse passion and cause the poet’s heart to be shredded. It is not made explicit whose hands are shredding the poet/lover’s heart – his own or the beloved’s. It can be either.
4
bhaTakte1 phir rahe haiN justujuu2-e yaar3 meN ab tak
kahiN Tikne4 nahiN detaa hameN vahm-o-gumaaN5 apna 1.wandering 2.search 3.beloved 4.linger, stop, rest 5.fear and suspicion
The ‘fear and suspicion’ could be because he the poet/lover suspects that the beloved might be with the rival. He has been wandering all over searching her. His fear and suspicion does not let him rest anywhere, even for a minute.
5
javaani1 meN kise neki2 badi3 kaa hosh4 hota hai
javaani1 meN nahiN kuchh soojhtaa5 sood-o-ziyaaN6 apna 1.youth 2.virtue, good 3.vice, bad 4.awareness 5.understand 6.profit and loss, benefit and harm, punishment and reward
This is a classical observation of mis-spent youth. Whoever is aware/mindful of good and bad when young. During youth there is never a clear understanding of what is beneficial or harmful.
6
zamaane1 ne vo karvaT2 lii meri duniyaa badal Daali
na ab hai raaz-daaN3 koi na koi mehrbaaN4 apna 1.present times, world 2.turning, changing 3.confidant, friend 4.kind, helper
Something has happened and times of have changed. The poet no longer has any friend or helper. There is no indication of what has changed.
7
kisi ko yaad1 ham aate nahiN is anjuman2 meN ab
ba-hamdillaah3 zikr-e-Khair4 rahtaa thaa jahaaN apna 1.remember 2.gathering 3.god be praised 4.favourable mention
In past gatherings the poet used to be remembered and people talked kindly/favourable of him (go be praised). But now, no one remembers him.
8
vo gul1 haiN ham gulistaaN2 se uRe yuuN buu3-e gul ban kar
na DhooNDe se milaa gulchiiN4 ko phir naam-o-nishaaN5 apna 1.rose 2.garden 3.fragrance 4.flower-picker 5.location and trace
Fragrance spreads freely, disperses and disappears. That is what happened to the poet. The ‘gulchiiN/flower picker’, always tracks down the rose to pick it (just like the bird-catcher spreads a net and captures the bulbul). But the poet has disappeared – dispersed like fragrance, so much so that the even the flower picker is unable to track him down.
9
mazaa1 ustaad2 ke sh’eroN kaa ham ko shaad3 aataa hai
vo hai tarz-e-suKhan4 apni vo hai raNg-e-bayaaN5 apna 1.taste, pleasure 2.teacher 3.pen-name of the poet 4.way of speaking/composing 5.style of reciting
The poet, murli dhar shaad was a shaagird/student of beKhud dehlavi, who was himself a shaagird of daaGh dehlavi who was a junior contemporary of and greatly influenced by Ghalib, though not formally his shaagird. All of them composed in the style of Ghalib. O shaad, I get a taste of my ustaad in my couplets, such is my way of composing, such my style of reciting.
murli dhar shaad (~1910?-1950). His diivaan was published posthumously by his uncle, shaNkar lal shaNkar, who was himself a shaa’er and died soon afterwards (~1952). shaad’s father, founder of lyallpur mills and later DCM, established the ‘shaNkar-shaad Memorial Trust’ which organizes annual hind-pak mushaa’era (with political interruptions in 1965 and covid in 2020), aimed at promoting urdu and communal harmony. shaad also organized annual mushaa’era in lyallpur in the 1940s inviting shu’ara from all over India, for the employees of the textile mills. This Ghazal is in the zamin of Ghalib’s ‘zikr us parivash ka aur phir bayaaN apna’.
1
na koi mehrbaaN1 apna na koi raaz-daaN2 apna
jise samjhe the apna dil vo dil bhi ab kahaaN apna
1.benefactor, helper 2.confidant
There is none who is my helper. None who I can trust with whom I can share my secrets (pain). Normally, the heart would fill these roles. But even the heart which I used to consider my own, is no longer mine (the beloved has stolen it).
2
jo ho chashm-e-karam1 teri jo ho tu mehrbaaN2 apna
zamiN apni falak3 apna makiiN4 apne makaaN5 apna
1.glance of kindness 2.kind, favourable 3.sky 4.resident 5.home
Here ‘makaaN’ is the heart of the poet/lover. If the beloved were to look at him with kindness/love and if she were to show him favours, then the earth and sky would belong to him, the resident of the heart (the beloved) as well as his own heart would be his.
3
vo le kar aa’ina baiThe the lene imtehaaN1 apna
kiya haathoN se apne daaman2-e dil dhajjiyaaN3 apna
1.test 2.hem of the robe 3.shreds
In using ‘daaman-e dil’, the poet is personified the heart enough to give it a robe to wear. ‘daaman dhajjiyaaN’ karna to shred one’s clothes (like majnuN) is a sign of extreme distress in passion. Thus, the beloved is bent upon testing the poet/lover. She is holding a mirror looking at herself, adorning herself. This act, in itself, is enough to arouse passion and cause the poet’s heart to be shredded. It is not made explicit whose hands are shredding the poet/lover’s heart – his own or the beloved’s. It can be either.
4
bhaTakte1 phir rahe haiN justujuu2-e yaar3 meN ab tak
kahiN Tikne4 nahiN detaa hameN vahm-o-gumaaN5 apna
1.wandering 2.search 3.beloved 4.linger, stop, rest 5.fear and suspicion
The ‘fear and suspicion’ could be because he the poet/lover suspects that the beloved might be with the rival. He has been wandering all over searching her. His fear and suspicion does not let him rest anywhere, even for a minute.
5
javaani1 meN kise neki2 badi3 kaa hosh4 hota hai
javaani1 meN nahiN kuchh soojhtaa5 sood-o-ziyaaN6 apna
1.youth 2.virtue, good 3.vice, bad 4.awareness 5.understand 6.profit and loss, benefit and harm, punishment and reward
This is a classical observation of mis-spent youth. Whoever is aware/mindful of good and bad when young. During youth there is never a clear understanding of what is beneficial or harmful.
6
zamaane1 ne vo karvaT2 lii meri duniyaa badal Daali
na ab hai raaz-daaN3 koi na koi mehrbaaN4 apna
1.present times, world 2.turning, changing 3.confidant, friend 4.kind, helper
Something has happened and times of have changed. The poet no longer has any friend or helper. There is no indication of what has changed.
7
kisi ko yaad1 ham aate nahiN is anjuman2 meN ab
ba-hamdillaah3 zikr-e-Khair4 rahtaa thaa jahaaN apna
1.remember 2.gathering 3.god be praised 4.favourable mention
In past gatherings the poet used to be remembered and people talked kindly/favourable of him (go be praised). But now, no one remembers him.
8
vo gul1 haiN ham gulistaaN2 se uRe yuuN buu3-e gul ban kar
na DhooNDe se milaa gulchiiN4 ko phir naam-o-nishaaN5 apna
1.rose 2.garden 3.fragrance 4.flower-picker 5.location and trace
Fragrance spreads freely, disperses and disappears. That is what happened to the poet. The ‘gulchiiN/flower picker’, always tracks down the rose to pick it (just like the bird-catcher spreads a net and captures the bulbul). But the poet has disappeared – dispersed like fragrance, so much so that the even the flower picker is unable to track him down.
9
mazaa1 ustaad2 ke sh’eroN kaa ham ko shaad3 aataa hai
vo hai tarz-e-suKhan4 apni vo hai raNg-e-bayaaN5 apna
1.taste, pleasure 2.teacher 3.pen-name of the poet 4.way of speaking/composing 5.style of reciting
The poet, murli dhar shaad was a shaagird/student of beKhud dehlavi, who was himself a shaagird of daaGh dehlavi who was a junior contemporary of and greatly influenced by Ghalib, though not formally his shaagird. All of them composed in the style of Ghalib. O shaad, I get a taste of my ustaad in my couplets, such is my way of composing, such my style of reciting.
