Click here for background and on any passage for word meanings and explanatory discussion. panDit jagmohan raina shauq (1863-1946?). He served as deputy collector in a district including agra. His ustaad was amir minaaii. He retired in 1920 and lived in allahabad. In addition to two collections of his own Ghazal, he published two massive volumes of urdu and faarsi verse of kashmiri panDits. This Ghazal is linked to ‘jaauN kidhar ko maiN’, Ghalib naqsh-e qadam on the Theme Index page.
1
samjha nah Khaak¹ vus’at²-e hadd³-e nazar⁴ ko maiN
aaNkhoN se poochhta huN teri rahguzar⁵ ko maiN    1.dust (see note below) 2.extent 3.limit 4.sight 5.path
Here ‘samjha nah Khaak’ is used as an expression to mean – I did not understand anything (whatever I understood was less than dust). Thus, the poet did not understand the extent of the limits of what he could see – meaning that he thought he could see but there is a limit that he did not understand. So, he asks his eyes what path to take to reach him. Here ‘him’ is not defined but he implies god. The path to god is not through eyes but through the heart.
2
teri nigaah¹-e naaz² ne kii kuchh Khataa³ zaroor⁴
tum pahlay dil meN DhoonD lo dekhuN jigar ko maiN    1.glance 2.coquetry 3.mistake, missed target 4.certainly
In poetic convention, the beloved shoots arrows of coquettish glances at the lover. These arrows pierce the heart and the liver (seats of love and of fortitude). But it seems that the arrow is lost somewhere. The poet says, surely it must have missed its target. You look in my heart and I will search the liver, he says.
3
dil Khanda-zan¹ hai gardish²-e lail³ o nehaar⁴ par
rota nahiN huN qismat-e shaam o sahar⁵ ko maiN    1.smile, snear, mock 2.turning 3.night 4.day 5.dawn, day
My heart laughs at/mocks the turning of the day and night (passage of time). I am not the one who cries about my fate day and night. This is very unusual. The normal conventional situation is the exact opposite. I am not sure what the poet is trying to say beyond this literal meaning.
4
hamdam¹ nah poochh bazm²-e shabinah³ ki sarguzisht⁴
ro ro diya huN dekh kay sham’⁵-e sahar⁶ ko maiN    1.friend 2.gathering, celebration 3.last night 4.story 5.lamp, candle 6.dawn
Usually sham’-e sahar implies a candle that has nearly burnt out – it has been burning all night long and is near the end of its life at dawn, when it will go it by itself or will be blown out because light is emerging. O friend, do not ask me the story of last night. I cry looking at the late night candle. This could be because of the impending death of the candle or because the candle has killed so many moths through the night. The second situation might also imply the beloved killing her admirers/lovers through the night.
5
anjaam¹ kya ho dekhiye dil ka firaaq² meN
rakhta huN uss ke paas hi soz³-e jigar⁴ ko maiN    1.result, end 2.separation 3.fire, passion, pain 4.liver
In poetic conventions the heart is the seat of feelings of love and sorrow while the liver of courage and fortitude. There is much overlap and interchange between the two. Here the poet, in a state of separation from the beloved, has fiery pain in his liver. His liver is next to the heart. He wonders what would happen to the heart during this separation because of its proximity to the liver. Beyond this word meaning, I cannot make any sense of it. It looks like an exercise in ‘qaafiya bandi’ – word smithing.
6
dekhe to koi be-sar-o-saamaaniyaaN¹ meri
jaata huN chhoR kar yahiN zaad²-e safar³ ko maiN    1.without any means 2.provisions for travel 3.journey
The poet/lover is so distraught that he departs on his journey (perhaps into the desert, looking for his beloved like majnuN), completely without any means, leaving behind the provisions that had been set aside for his journey.
7
pursish¹ jo aasiyoN² ki hui roz-e-baaz-purs³
kah duuNga saaf laaya to huN chashm⁴-e tar⁵ ko maiN    1.enquiry 2.sinners 3.day of reckoning 4.eye 5.moist, tearful
It is the day of reckoning and all sinners are being asked to account for their deeds. the poet uses the common trope that tears of regret will get you off the hook. Thus, he says, when they ask me, I will tell them plainly that I have my tearful eye.
8
meri tarah nah yeh bhi taRapnay¹ lageN kahiiN
thaamay² huay huN haathoN se qalb³ o jigar⁴ ko maiN    1.thrashing in pain 2.holding 3.heart 4.liver
It is almost as it the heart (seat of love) and the liver (seat of courage) are entities/personalities distinct from the poet himself. He is in pain of unrequited love and is afraid that his heart and liver might also begin to thrash in intense pain like himself. So his is holding them with his hands. Again, I cannot make any sense of it other than word-smithing.
9
dair¹ o haram² nah jaanay kahaaN peechhay rah gaye
baiTha hua huN soch meN jaauN kidhar ko maiN    1.temple 2.mosque
The poet/seeker is on the journey of life and has left behind temple and mosque and is now wondering which direction to take. Either he implies that it is temple/mosque that are/should be guides in his journey or he implies that they are useless and he is forced to forge his own path. I prefer the latter.
10
minnat-paziir¹-e dast²-e junooN³ huN azal⁴ se shauq⁵
karta huN chaak-chaak⁶ bayaaz⁷-e sahar⁸ ko maiN    1.obliged to 2.hand of 3.passion, madness 4.eternity, beginning of time 5.pen-name 6.shreds, tear apart 7.note book, collection 8.dawn
O shauq, from the beginning of time I have been obliged to the hand of passion. I tear apart the book of dawn again and again.