Click here for background and on any passage for word meanings and explanatory discussion. ajay paanDay sahaab (1969-living) ICS officer, commisioner GST, jhaarkhanD. Grew up in surroundings completely devoid of urdu. Read sahir, firaq and faiz in devanagiri and fell in love with urdu. Taught himself reading and writing and started composing at 16-17. He writes …
seekha isi se dard ye hindostaan ka
bachpan se mujh pe qarz hai urdu zabaan ka
This Ghazal is linked to Ghalib naqsh-e qadam – saaqi ne kuchh mila na diya ho sharaab meN.
1
jannat¹ ka hai maza² meri kaafir³ sharaab meN
likkha kahaaN hai shaiKh ye teri kitaab meN    1.heaven 2.taste 3.forbidden
There is a common trope that wine is forbidden here on earth but is plentiful, available and allowed in heaven. The poet is using this background to make fun of orthodoxy. O shaiKh, you claim that my forbidden wine tastes like that in heaven (that I should forego it here and wait for the reward there). Where is this written in your book.
2
rizvaaN¹ har ek rind² ko jannat meN le gaya
jo paarsa³ the rah gaye jannat ke baab⁴ meN     1.keeper of the gates of heaven 2.wine lover 3.observant, abstainer 4.gates
The poet continues to make fun of orthodoxy. The ‘rind-wine lover’ is symbolic of a person who shuns conventional hypocritical traditions and goes to the tavern – an open place welcoming of all. The gatekeeper escorts all ‘rind’ into heaven and detains the observant (hypocrites) at the gates.
3
un ko kahaaN ye fikr¹ keh Khat² ka javaab³ deN
ham hi uTha kay likh deN koi Khat javaab meN    1.concern 2.letter 3.answer
When does she have any concern about writing in reply to my letter? Why don’t I myself write a letter in response to myself. Said daaGh dehlavi …
kya kya fareb dil ko diye izteraab meN
un ki taraf se aap likhe Khat javaab meN
4
vaa’ez¹ ji aap to kabhi aaye na maikade²
kaaTi hai umr aap ne aadhe savaab³ meN     1.muslim preacher 2.tavern 3.blessing
O preacher, you have never come to the tavern. You have spent your life with only half the blessings that god bestows. That implies that having missed the half associated with wine in the tavern the preacher has enjoyed only the ‘other half’. It is not clear what that other half might be. I will leave it to the reader to imagine it.
5
aisi ada¹ se baaGh meN aaya vo gulbadan²
dekho badal gaye sabhi kaaNTe gulaab meN    1.style 2.rose-bodied, beloved
The rose-bodied beloved arrived in the garden in such style that all thorns changed into roses.