Click here for background and on any passage for word meanings and explanatory discussion. munshi bishweshwar prasad munavvar lakhnavi (1897-1970). He was a scholar of arabi, faarsi, urdu, and hindi. His father, munshi dwarka prasad ufaq was also a great poet who recomposed the ramayan in urdu using the same qaafiya for more than 6000 ash’aar. He himself re-composed the bhagwad gita in chaste urdu. He credits urdu with “saving the hindu religion” because of the many translations of hindu religious texts into urdu because that was the language that more north Indian hindus could relate to, rather than avadhi or sanskrit. In the synchretic spirit of India (now lost) he composed odes and elegies to islamic religious figures. This Ghazal composed in the zamin of Ghalib is linked to Ghalib naqsh-e qadam.
1
husn¹ sad-raNg² se firdaus³ ba-daamaaN⁴ nikla
ham ne jis phool ko dekha voh gulistaaN⁵ nikla     1.beauty 2.hundred colours 3.heaven 4.gathered in the hem of the garment 5.garden
To hold something gathering the hem of the garment means to possess it. Thus, even if you look at beauty in a hundred different ways, in each way it holds/possesses paradise. Whichever flower I looked at, it seemed to contain the whole garden i.e., beauty of the whole garden. Beauty here could be divine beauty. A hundred ways of looking at it could be many faiths. Each flower, a faith contains the same beauty as all of divinity.
2
ho gaye daad-talab¹ aur balaa’oN² meN asiir³
hashr⁴ ek silsila⁵-e zulf-e-pareshaaN⁶ nikla    1.reward demanding 2.calamities, trials 3.captive, bound 4.result 5.continuity 6.tangled hair
This is probably another expression of doing something only focusing on the effort and not on the rewards/gains. Thus, if you become reward-demanding you become a captive of trials and tribulations. The result will be a never-ending continuity of long tangled hair. Alternatively, this could be a description of the judgement day, when the poet/lover demands ‘daad’ as justice. But with the lover’s hesitancy and the beloved’s denials the whole process of judgement became a series of entanglements like the beloved’s hair.
3
be-haqiiqat¹ si thi zaahir² meN to muTThi bhar Khaak³
jis bagoolay⁴ peh nazar⁵ kii vahi toofaaN⁶ nikla    1.inconsequential, meaningless 2.apparent, superficial 3.dust 4.whirlwind, dust devil 5.careful look 6.storm
A ‘bagoola’ is a what is called a dust-devil, a very small wind-swirl not quite on the scale of a large dust storm. Thus, superficially it was an inconsequential fistful of dust but whichever dust-devil we looked at carefully, turned out to be a storm. Does he mean that inconsequential appearances can turn out to contain deep meanings or small beginnings can result in major events? I am not sure.
4
taa¹ abad² yuN hi asiiri³ meN guzarna⁴ hai kya
jo bhi halqa⁵ tha tasavvur⁶ ka voh zindaaN⁷ nikla    1.until 2.eternity 3.captivity 4.passing through, spending 5.circle 6.imagination, thought 7.prison, confinement
We make our own ‘halqa’ – circle, limitated by the range of our own imagination and this becomes our prison. We cannot think beyond this. Is this the way to spend your life through the end of time in captivity/confinement. Said Ghalib …
manzar ek balandi par aur ham banaa sake
kaash keh udhar hota arsh se makaaN apna
5
aur kya shai¹ hai yeh me’raaj²-e mohabbat ke siva³
aarzu⁴ aap ki ho kar mera armaaN⁵ nikla⁶    1.thing, entity 2.ascent, climax 3.except for 4.wish, yearning 5.desire, longing 6.emerged
What else can it be except the climax of love. My desire for you emerged as my intense longing. Thus, desire for the beloved is the climax of love. Whether this is the divine beloved is left the the reader to decide.
6
marg-saamaaN¹ isay na-ahl² bataate hi rahay
zindagi-baKhsh³ nehaa’et⁴ Gham-e-jaanaaN⁵ nikla    1.means of death, death causing 2.uninitiated, ignorant 3.life-granting 4.very much 5.pain of love for the beloved
The unschooled and the ignorant kept describing it as death-causing, but the pain of love for the beloved turned out to be life-granting i.e., it gave meaning/purpose to life.
7
Khaak¹ meN gardish-e-dauraaN² ne milaaya mujh ko
aur iss par bhi maiN sar-halqa-e-dauraaN³ nikla   1.dust 2.vicissitudes of time, trials and tribulations of life 3.head of the gathering of the world
Even though (or maybe, because) I was ground into dust by the trials and tribulations of life, I emerged at the head of the circle of people of the times. Beyond this literal translation, I don’t really know what the poet means. Perhaps if we read it to say ‘because I went through trials, I was able to learn from it and come out ahead’ i.e., testing by fire is a good thing.
8
ashk¹-e KhooN dekh ke barpa² hai sar-e raah³ yeh Ghul
kya munavvar⁴ koii taara sar-e mizshgaaN⁵ nikla    1.tears 2.prevalent, underway 3.path 4.pen-name of the poet 5.eyelashes
The poet has been crying tears of blood. These tear drops shine like stars because of the intensity of his passion. Seeing this, in the street, there is a noise of people asking, ‘O munavvar, is that a star that has emerged at the tip of your eyelashes’.
9
uff re yeh jazba¹-e Khud-daar²-e munavvar³ ki numood⁴
ek ajab⁵ shaan⁶ ka shaa’er yeh suKhandaaN⁷ nikla    1.sentiments, passion 2.self-respecting, dignity 3.pen-name of the poet 4.emergence 5.unusual, surprizing, amazing 6.glory 7.poet, versifier
O the emergence of the passion of this self-respecting poet/munavvar (his passion expresses itself in his verse). This poet has emerged as a versifier of amazing dignity. The qualities of ‘self-respect’ and ‘dignity’ can signify both excellence of language and independence/innovation of thought.