Click here for background and on any passage for word meanings and explanatory discussion. jaliil hasan jaliil maanikpuri (1864-1946), maanikpur. Learnt urdu, faarsi, arabi from scholars/tutors at home. Became shaagird of amiir minaaii in 1882 and followed him to rampur (1886) and to hyderabad in 1901. Appointed ustaad of mahboob ali KhaaN in 1910 and later of osman ali KhaaN. Given numerous titles including navaab fasaahat jaNg. This Ghazal is linked to Ghalib naqsh-e qadam ‘mayassar nahiN insaaN hona’.
1
aashiqi kya hai raheen¹-e Gham-e jaanaaN² hona
zindagi kya hai qateel³-e shab⁴-e hijraaN⁵ hona    1.mortgaged to, bound to/by 2.beloved 3.killed by 4.night of 5.separation
What is love, except being bound by the pain of love of the beloved. What is life, except being killed by the night of separation from the beloved.
2
talab¹-e yaar² hai kya, apni Khudi³ se jaana
shauq⁴-e diidaar⁵ hai kya maut⁶ ka KhwaahaaN⁷ hona     1.desire, wish 2.beloved 3.self-awareness 4.wish 5.sight, seeing 6.death 7.desirous
What does desire for the beloved mean – I learnt this by looking into myself. What is the desire to see (the beloved) except for a death-wish. This could mean that the beloved is so beautiful that the lover will die upon seeing her dazzling beauty. This could also be applied to the divine beloved. The desire to see god is to wish to die and merge with the divine spirit.
3
poochhte kya ho tum aashufta-mizaaji¹ meri
zulf² ko kis ne sikhaaya hai pareshaaN³ hona   1.disturbed/disordered mood/temperament 2.hair 3.scattered, spread
When the beloved spreads her hair out it enhances her beauty and makes her lovers even more disturbed/mad with love. Here is a re-inforcing circularity … his disturbed temparament-aashufta mizaaji-has taught the beloved’s hair how to be disordered/spread-out. The spread-out hair makes him more aashufta-mizaaj.
4
shauq¹-e diidaar² likha tha, yeh javaab³ aaya hai
siikh le pahlay sifat⁴-e aaina hairaaN⁵ hona     1.desire, wish 2.sighting, looking at 3.answer 4.qualities, characteristics 5.amazed
An oft-used trope is that whenever the beloved looks into a mirror, it gets amazed at her beauty. The lover has sent her a letter expressing his desire to look at her. He gets an answer … first learn the quality of the mirror – quality of getting amazed.
5
phool gulzaar¹ ke sub jaama-dari² seekh³ gaye
aa gaya kaam mera chaak⁴ garebaaN⁵ hona     1.garden 2.tearing off clothes 3.learnt 4.tear, rip 5.collar
It is conventional for the mad/passionate lover to rip his shirt at the collar. The only benefit of his ‘chaak garebaani’ seems to be that flowers in the garden have learnt how to tear their clothes off i.e., petals falling off.
6
mun’hasir¹ tha teri zulfoN² ke bikhar³ jaanay par
kisi shiiraaza⁴-e hasti⁵ ka pareshaaN⁶ hona     1.dependent on, related to, caused by 2.hair 3.spread, scattered 4.book-binding, orderliness 5.existence, life 6.scattered, disordered
When the beloved spreads her hair, it causes the lover to get even more mad and results in the orderliness of his life becoming disordered/disoriented.
7
gul-badaamaaN¹ to gulistaaN² ho magar vaa’e³ nasiib⁴
gul⁵ ki taqdiir⁶ meN ho Khaar⁷ ba-daamaaN¹ hona   1.roses gathered in the hem of the garment 2.garden 3.alas, fie 4.fate 5.rose 6.fate 7.thorn
The garden gathers roses in the hem of its garment but alas, what fate … it is the fate of the rose to carry thorns in the hem of its garment.
8
huu-ba-huu¹ hasti²-e mauhoom³ ka naqsha⁴ hai jaliil⁵
gul ka dam-bhar⁶ ke liye baaGh meN KhandaaN⁷ hona   1.exactly like 2.life, existence 3.illusory, transient 4.sketch, picture 5.pen-name of the poet 6.for a moment 7.smile, blossom
O jaliil, the blossoming of the rose in the garden for but a few moments is exactly the picture of the transience of life.