Click here for background and on any passage for word meanings and explanatory discussion. panDit labhuram josh malsiani (1884-1976) from malsian in the now pakistani side of punjab. He was orphaned at 14, without any material inheritance and grew up very poor, in an atmosphere devoid of any poetic tradition. Migrated to India a little before partition/independence. He has written with great feeling about communal harmony and about the loss of his homeland – pakistan. daaGh dehlavi was his ustaad for a brief duration (1902-1905). His son, baalmukund arsh malsiani was also a well recognized poet. Honoured with padma-shrii in 1971. This Ghazal is composed in the style of Ghalib’s ‘Khaak meN kya soorateN hoNgi ke pinhaaN ho gaiiN’. Considering the life-span of the poet, I place this Ghazal in 1919 marking the 50^th anniversary of his Ghalib’s passing.
1
miT¹ gaiiN jab aarzu’eN² dushman-e jaaN ho ga’iiN
dil ki be-saamaaniyaaN³ bhi hashr-saamaaN⁴ ho ga’iiN 1.erase, finish 2.longings, yearnings 3.without any possessions, poverty 4.cataclysmic
In urdu poetic tradition yearning for love is considered of high value, the essence of life. But the poet/lover yearning got erased (it is not clear why – it may be because of constant disappointment or because instead of yearning for love, he began thinking of material goods). When he lost his yearning, that loss became the enemy of his soul/life. The poverty of his heart (devoid of feelings) became the source of cataclysm.
2
jin umeedoN¹ par sukoon-e-dil² ka tha daar-o-madaar³
mujh pareshaaN-haal⁴ ki haal-e-pareshaaN⁵ ho ga’iiN    1.hopes 2.tranquility, peace of mind 3.basis, dependence, foundation 4.madman 5.madness
The poet/lover is passionate madman. The hopes that were the very basis of his peace of mind, became the madness of this madman. This could mean the hopes that he had the beloved would reciprocate his love became so intense that they became the cause of his madness.
3
phooNk Daala un ki sard-mehri ne mujhe
meri aaheN aur bhi aatish ba-daamaaN ho ga’iiN   1.unkindness 2.sighs 3.fire 4.carrying in the lap/embrace
The beloved’s unkindness burned the poet/lover to ashes and blew them away. Even after this, he continues to sigh. Normally, sighs are considered to be cold. But now his sighs became fiery, carrying fire in their embrace.
4
kyuN unheN baad¹-e muKhaalif² ban ke chheRa³ aap ne
chaar maujeN⁴ aap ki shooKhi⁵ se toofaaN⁶ ho ga’iiN   1.wind, breeze 2.opposite 3.tease 4.waves 5.mischief 6.storm
The poet/lover describes his passion as “four/few waves”. These were ordinary waves and nobody noticed. But the beloved teased them by blowing in the opposite direction i.e. both tease and then refuse to reciprocate his love. Because of this, the four ordinary waves, became a storm (of passion).
5
ab mujhe naakaamiyoN¹ par bhi Khajil² hona paRa
ab meri mehroomiyaaN³ bhi daaGh⁴-e isyaaN⁵ ho ga’iiN   1.failures 2.ashamed 3.deprivations 4.scars 5.transgression, sin
The poet/lover has had constant failures (in unrequited love). This deprivation has resulted in scars on his heart. They appear like scars of sin/transgression and now he is forced to feel ashamed of them.
6
raahat o aaraam ki, aish o tarab ki KhwaahesheN
kaahisheN ban kar balaa-e jaan-e insaaN ho ga’iiN    1.comfort 2.rest 3.luxury 4.pleasure 5.pining 6.curse
This is a classic (and probably hypocritical) condemnation of the desire for material comfort. The wish for comfort, rest, luxury and pleasure has become a pining desire and changed into a curse of human life.
7
aye dil-e naakaam¹ Khud tuu ne musiibat mol lii
ye vafaa’eN² teri barbaadi³ ka saamaaN⁴ ho ga’iiN   1.unsuccessful, failed 2.fidelity, love 3.destruction, failure 4.means
O, wretched heart, you yourselves walked into this catastrophe. Your steadfast, unconditional love itself became the means of your failure.
8
TooTne ke lafz¹ ne aye josh² kya dhoka³ diya
mushkileN TooTiiN to maiN samjha ke aasaaN ho ga’iiN 1.word 2.pen-name of poet 3.deception
This is a light-hearted play on the word TooTna, which by itself means ‘breaking’. But ‘mushkileN TooTna’ idiomatically means difficulties breaking/falling upon you. The poet says, the word TooTna deceived me. When they said difficulties “broke”, I thought they were broken/overcome, so things had become easy. But later I find out that mushkileN TooTna means exactly the opposite.