Click here for background and on any passage for word meanings and explanatory discussion. anand mohan gulzar dehlavi (1926-2020), a kashmiri panDit, a scholar and lover of urdu and totally committed to communal harmony. Over his long and fruitful life has written with much love and admiration about many illustrious figures – political, religious and literary. He has written several tributes to Ghalib and composed several Ghazal in the style of Ghalib. This is modeled after ‘Khaak meN kya soorateN hoNgi keh pinhaaN ho gaiiN’ and is linked to ‘Ghalib naqsh-e qadam’.
1
hirs¹ ki pariyaaN bahaaristaaN meN uryaaN² ho gaiiN
bul-havas³ ke vaaste jaan⁴-e shabistaaN⁵ ho gaiiN   1.greed, lust 2.naked, revealed 3.greedy, lecher 4.soul, life 5.night chamber, sanctuary
The poet was politically very conscious and wrote forcefully about communal relationships and also about corruption and social justice. This she’r appears to be one such. The greed is that of politicians. ‘hirs ki pariyaaN uryaaN ho jaana’ is the angels of greed have been laid bare for everyone to see. These angels have become the life and soul of the chambers of the greedy and lustful i.e., corruption has become the centre piece of their lives.
2
harkateN¹ fistaaii² bhi Ghalib ke shaayaaN³ ho gaiiN
dharm aur kalchar⁴ ki sooli⁵ par farozaaN⁶ ho gaiiN    1.actions, movements 2.fascist 3.befitting 4.culture 5.hanging platform 6.shining, on fire
I am not sure I understand this. It appears to be political, aimed at the fascistic politics of the time, probably equating communal extremism to fascism. It also appears to be sarcastic and the only way that this might relate to Ghalib is that the poet (rightly) considers Ghalib to be a secular, universal humanist. The actions of fascists have become befitting of Ghalib (sarcastic). They shine brightly on the hanging platform of religion and culture i.e., they tout their fascistic/extremist principles in the name of religion and culture while killing it.
3
sab du’aaeN meri nazr¹-e jaan-e-jaanaaN² ho gaiiN
ruu-numa³-e jalva-haa⁴-e bazm-e-imkaaN⁵ ho gaiiN    1.devotional offering 2.life of my soul or soul of my life, beloved, god 3.reflecting the face/beauty of 4.glories (plural) of 5.realm of possibilities
All my prayers are an offering to the soul of my life. Who is the soul of his life? We are left to fill in the blanks. His prayers reflect the glory of the realm of possibilities. I am trying hard to put this in some context. If this she’r is also political, and if ‘jaan-e jaanaaN’ is the homeland, then things fall in place. His prayers are an offering to the homeland and his wishes reflect the glorious possibility of a peaceful and harmonious place.
4
kho gaiiN kya aarzu’eN¹ ho ke paamaal²-e KhizaaN³
sab ki sab nuqs⁴-e chaman-bandi⁵ meN pinhaaN⁶ ho gaiiN    1.wishes, desires, hopes 2.trampled 3.drought, conflict 4.defects, mistakes 5.dividing up the garden 6.hidden, disappeared
‘KhizaaN’ the dry season is used here as a metaphor for unproductive times of conflict. The hopes we had (for the newly independent homeland) have been trampled under the feet of conflict. All of them disappeared because of the harm of divisions of the garden.
5
ban gaya zulmat-kada¹ bhi markaz²-e noor-e-jahaaN³
un ki aaNkhen jab mere ghar meN farozaaN⁴ ho gaiiN    1.house of darkness 2.focus, centre 3.light of the world 4.illuminated, shining
Even the house of darkness (of the poet/lover) became the centre of the light of the world when the beloved’s eyes shone in it. This assumes that ‘un ki aaNkheN’ are the beloved’s eyes. We are left to decide whose eyes they are. In the light of the next she’r these could well be interpreted to mean the eyes of poets.
6
jab hua is Gham-kade¹ meN miir² of Ghalib ka vurood³
galiyaN dilli ki bhi shiiraaz⁴ o safaahaaN⁵ ho gaiiN    1.house of sorrow 2.mir taqi mir 3.appearance, manifestation 4.city in iraan 5.area of isfahaan
When Ghalib and mir appeared in this house of sorrow, the streets of dehli became like shiiraaz and isfahaan – a reference to faarsi poetry.
7
siikhiye¹ Ghalib ke is misre² se aafaaqi³ mizaaj⁴
millateN⁵ jab miT gaiiN ajzaa⁶-e iimaaN⁷ ho gaiiN    1.learn from 2.one misra/line of she’r/couplet 3.horizon like i.e., sky-like, universal 4.character, nature 5.communities 6.components, building blocks 7.faith
Said Ghalib …
ham muvahhid haiN hamaara kesh hai tark-e rusoom
millateN jab miT gaiiN ajzaa-e iimaaN ho gaiiN
We are unitarian universalists our nature is to reject formal rites
When differences between communities are erazed they form a universalist faith
Thus, says gulzar dehlavi, that we ought to learn from this misra of Ghalib and forget about superficial communal differences.
8
jab GhazaaloN¹ ki sifat² vo aa gaya jaan-e Ghazal
bulbuleN sahn³-e gulistaaN⁴ meN Ghazal-KhwaaN⁵ ho gaiiN    1.gazelle, Ghazal composer 2.resembling, like 3.yard 4.rose garden 5.Ghazal-singing
Said Ghalib …
maiN chaman meN kya gaya goya dabistaaN khul gaya
bulbuleN sun kar mere naale Ghazal-KhwaaN ho gaiiN
The jaan-e Ghazal who resembles the gazelle could well be the beloved. When she comes into the garden, the nightingale begins to sing. If the jaan-e Ghazal is the poet himself, then the bulbul learns Ghazal-Khwaani from him.
9
jis qadar¹ mushrik² the, munkir³ the, Khuda-naa-aashna⁴
vaqt-e mushkil sab ki ruuheN⁵ vaqf⁶-e iimaaN ho gaiiN    1.much, many 2.polytheists 3.deniers, atheists 4.non-cognizant of god 5.souls 6.devoted to
However many polytheists, atheists there were, who did not recognize the power of god, at times of difficulty, became convinced and their spirit was devoted to faith.
10
vo kitaabeN jo ravaadaari¹ ki rasm²-e aam³ thiiN
mosam-e-gul⁴ meN nasiib⁵-e taaq-e-nisyaaN⁶ ho gaiiN    1.considered right 2.tradition, rite 3.common 4.spring 5.grant, gift 6.cupboard of forgetfulness
The poet is taking a dig at people who buy books just to show, because it is considered the right thing to do and is a common tradition. As soon as they find something entertaining (like springtime), the books are relegated to the cupboard of forgetfulness.
11
sab miTa¹ do sikh, isaaii², musalmaaN, paarsi
millateN³ jab miT gaiiN ajza⁴-e iimaaN⁵ ho gaiiN   1.erase 2.Christian 3.communities 4.components 5.(universal) faith
The underlying theme is that differences are ritualistic and all faith is directed towards the universal spirit. Thus the ritualistic differences should be erased (at least, not made a point of judgement). When communities erase these bounds then the universality of all faiths emerges.
12
dekh kar gulzar¹ dil ke naqsh-haa²-e raNg raNg
sab adaa’eN³ husn⁴ ki jaan⁵-e nigaaraaN⁶ ho gaiiN    1.pen-name of the poet 2.sketches, images, pitures 3.styles, coquetry 4.beauty, beloved 5.soul, essence 6.embellishment, enhancement of beauty, picture, painting
Upon seeing the many colours of the heart (of the lover), all the coquetry of the beloved turned into the essence of the embellishment of the image. The many colours of the heart are the many styles of devotion of people of all faiths and the beloved is ‘divine beauty’. Divine beauty seems to appreciate/enjoy the many colours of devotion and this itself becomes its main embellishment.