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, in the zamin of Ghalib’s ‘yaar ko mehmaaN kiye hue’ is linked to Ghalib naqsh-e qadam.
1
aaraa’esh¹-e junooN² ka huN saamaaN³ kiye hue
nikla huN ghar se chaak⁴ garebaaN⁵ kiye hue    1.adornment 2.madness of passion 3.means, arrangements 4.torn 5.shirt front, collar
It is poetic convention that the lover goes around with intense madness of passion with his shirt front torn, ala majnuN of laila-majnuN legend. Thus, he claims that he has set out of his home with a rent collar, having made full arrangements for the adornment of his passion.
2
vo ek baar chashm¹-e inaa’et² se dekh leN
baiTha huN apna haal pareshaaN³ kiye hue  1.glance 2.kindness, benevolence 3.worried, disheveled
So that beloved cast at least a single glance of kindness at me, I sit (in her path) in a disheveled/worried state.
3
sahra¹ tha muntazir² meri d’aavat³ ke vaaste⁴
aek aek nok⁵-e Khaar⁶ ko paikaaN⁷ kiye hue    1.wilderness, desert 2.waiting, anticipation 3.invitation, reception 4.for the sake of 5.point, sharp end 6.thorn 7.tip of arrow
The picture is that of majnuN wandering the desert in his bare feet. Thorns prick his feed which bleed profusely adding to his look of passionate madness. The poet/lover too says that the the wilderness is waiting for his reception, readying sharp thorns as tips of arrows.
4
liiN aabloN¹ meN Khaar²-e muGhailaaN³ ne chuTkiyaaN⁴
nikla tha maiN tasavvur⁵-e mizshgaaN⁶ kiye hue  1.pustules, sores, boils 2.thorn 3.thorny acacia 4.pinch 5.imagination, mental picture 6.eyelashes
The poet/lover had stepped out with the image of eyelashes in his mind but it turned out that it was acacia thorns that were pricking the pustules in his bare feet. I wonder if he was imagining stepping on the beloved’s eyelashes!
5
dekha na aek dil ko bhi duniya meN mutma’in¹
ham se² bahut haiN un ke pareshaaN³ kiye hue   1.satisfied, content 2.short for ‘jaise’ – like, similar to 3.distraught, worried
I did not see even one heart that was contented. It seems like there are many others just like me who have been rendered distraught by the beloved.
6
tum aa baso¹ to ujRe² hue shahr³ ko basaauN⁴
muddat⁵ hui hai dil ko biyabaaN⁶ kiye hue    1.inhabit, make a home in 2.desolate, lonely 3.city, settlement, heart 4.make prosperous 5.long time, ages 6.abandoned, wilderness
If you come and make a home in my heart, then it will become prosperous again. It has been ages since it has been abandoned into desolation.
7
TeRhi nazar¹, jabiiN² pe hai bal³, teGh⁴ haath meN
aaye haiN mere qatl⁵ ka saamaaN⁶ kiye hue    1.glance 2.forehead 3.furrows 4.sword 5.slaughter 6.arrangements
In urdu poetic convention the beloved slaughters her admirers/lovers. She is coming, sword in hand, her brow furrowed and her glance askew (in anger), completing all arrangements for his slaughter.
8
v’aade¹ ki shab² Khushi ka sabab³ poochhte ho kya
yaad aa rahe haiN shaad⁴ ko ehsaaN⁵ kiye hue    1.promise (of union) 2.night 3.basis, reason 4.pen-name of the poet 5.kindnesses, favours
It is the night that the beloved has promised to come. The poet/lover appears to be joyous. This should be surprising, because it is well known that the beloved never keeps her promise. So, someone (perhaps a friend) asks him the reason for his joy. What can I say, I remember all the favours that the beloved has shown me in the past, he says.