Click here for background and on any passage for word meanings and explanatory discussion. ram siNgh sharar fatehpuri (1928-1992), fatehpur, haryaana. MA (urdu) and MEd, from aligaRh. He worked in the Department of Education, haryaana. Progressive Writers’ Association, Communist Party of India, awardee of the saahitya akademi of haryaana and uttar pradesh. Soviet Land’s Nehru Award. He composed a large body of protest nazm. This Ghazal is very untypical. It is linked to ‘sukoot ko naGhma saraaii de’, even though it is not exactly the same qaafiya, but matches the short radeef and is composed in the same spirit.
1
alfaaz¹ ke badan² ko libaas³-e Khayaal⁴ de
harf⁵-e navaa⁶ ko paikar⁷-e mu’aani⁸ meN Dhaal⁹ de     1.words 2.body 3.clothing 4.thought, purpose 5.word 6.sound, spoken 7.image, form, picture 8.meaning 9.cast
He is addressing the poet (himself) and/or his fellow poets. In the spirit of the Progressive Writers’ Association, which wanted a social and philosophical grounding to poetry, he calls upon himself to dress up the body of words in clothing of thought/purpose. He suggests that the spoken word be cast in the form of meaning.
2
dushvaari¹-e hayaat² ko dushvaar-tar³ banaa
jis ka javaab⁴ ban na paRe⁵ vo savaal⁶ de    1.difficulty 2.life 3.more difficult 4.answer 5.cannot form or find 6.question
I like to think that he is suggesting the powers be questioned with difficult and even more difficult questions of the problems of life. Questions for which they cannot make up easy answers. Contributed by zaheer … The poet finds ease of life disconcerting. He is inspired by the challenges that life throws at him, which temper his tough mind further and groom him as a man of grit. Since he is excited by daunting challenges, he asks for a life of unending difficulty, which would make his journey exciting.
3
sarmastiyoN¹ ki mauj² meN lahraa ke jhuum jaa
uTh aur ek jaam³ fazaa⁴ meN uchhaal⁵ de     1.intoxication 2.wave, tide, flood 3.cup (of wine) 4.air 5.throw up
This is the wine of hope of social justice. Intoxicated with a tide of hope, swing/celebrate with joy, rise and throw up in the air a cup of wine i.e., with comrades, celebrate the coming of the socialist revolution.
4
ahl¹-e Khirad² ko sauNp³ na duniyaa ki baag-Dor⁴
kaar⁵-e zamaana⁶ ahl¹-e junuuN⁷ ko saNbhaal⁸ de     1.people of 2.knowledge 3.entrust 4.reins 5.work, affairs 6.times, world 7.passion 8.hand over
Here ‘ahl-e Khirad’ can be interpreted to mean high-minded experts of the ivory tower. Thus, do not entrust the reins of the running of the world in the hands of bookish experts. Hand over the affairs of the world to the people of passion – who feel strongly about human suffering and justice.
5
lazzat¹-shanaas²-e talKhi³-e imroz⁴ huN sharar⁵
phir maslahat⁶ na ishrat⁷-e fardaa⁸ pe Taal⁹ de     1.pleasure 2.familiar 3.bitterness 4.today 5.pen-name of the poet, also means spark (as in spark of change) 6.purpose, intent 7.pleasure 8.future 9.postpone
O sharar, I am familiar with the comfort that the bitterness of today (daily living) gives i.e., the pain of everyday life is an familiar habit, which one can easily get comfortable with. But you have a purpose/goal. Do not postpone that purpose as a future pleasure – be the instrument of change now. Contributed by Zaheer … the poet has undying passion to tide over life’s challenges. He believes in delightfully tasting life’s bitterness today and in turning it into sweet achievements through consistent action rather than opt for the comfort of putting the challenges off for tomorrow. He understands that procrastination is the biggest enemy of power.