chaaragar – maKhdoom mohiuddin

Click here for ali sardar jafri’s story on this nazm and on any passage for word meanings and discussion. A story is told in ali sardar jafri’s beautiful video series “kahkashaaN”, on the lives of urdu poets. maKhdoom was charged and convicted of sedition (1941) and was serving time in Hyderabad Central Jail. A young man landed in the same cell. It turned out that he was planning to marry a young woman whose father disapproved of the match. Her father, influential in official circles, was able to get the young man arrested and thrown in jail on trumped up charges. The young woman was married off to a landlord’s son. The young man upon his release (and influenced by maKhdoom) worked in the landless peasant movement because of which landlords (including the father and son) fled (abandoning the young woman). The two young lovers were rejoined but killed themselves and were buried under a jasmine bower. The video suggests that this was maKhdoom’s ode to the young lovers.

ek chameli ke manDve tale`
maikade¹ se zara duur us moR par
do badan
pyar ki aag meN jal gaye1.tavern
Beneath yonder jasmine bower, past the tavern around the corner, two loving souls (lie buried-implied in sardar jafri’s video series), consumed in the fire of love.

pyaar harf e vafa²
pyaar unka Khuda
pyaar unki chita³  2.word of faith/promise 3.funeral pyre
Love their, promise of faith, their only god. Burnt on the pyre of love. Love, their only salvation.

do badan
oas⁴ meN bheegte chandni meN nahate hue
jaise do taza ruu⁵ taza dam⁶ phool pichhle pahar⁷  4.dew 5.fresh, young 6.fresh/new breath/life (newly opened flowers) 7.just past
Two loving souls, soaked in dew, bathed in silver moonlight, like two fresh flowers, just blossomed.

ThanDi ThanDi subak rau⁸ chaman kii hava
sarf e matam⁹ hui
kaali kaali laToN¹⁰ se lipaT garm ruKhsar¹¹ par
aek pal ke liye ruk gayee8.gentle flow 9.busy/engrossed in mourning 10.dark tresses 11.warm face/cheeks
The soft cool breeze of the garden mourning their loss, steals into her dark tresses, hugging her warm face, dwells longingly for a brief moment.

hum ne dekha unheN
din meN aur raat meN
noor o zulmaat¹² meN12.light and darkness
We see/have seen them, by day and by night, in darkness and in light.

masjidoN ke minaroN ne dekha unheN
mandiroN ke kivaRoN¹³ ne dekha unheN
maikade ke daraRoN¹⁴ ne dekha unheN13.doors, portals 14.rifts, cracks, chinks
The minarets of the mosques bear witness, the portals of temple see them, the chinks in the tavern door too.

az azal¹⁵ ta abad¹⁶
ye bata chaaragar¹⁷
teri zanbeel¹⁸ meN
nusKha¹⁹ e keemiya²⁰ e mohabbat bhi hai
kuchh ilaaj o madaava²¹ e ulfat²² bhi hai15.from the beginning (of creation) 16.to the end 17.healer, saviour 18.sack, bag 19.formula 20.chemistry 21.remedy 22.love
From beginning to end, for all eternity, tell me O Healer, in your sack of potions, is there a formula for the magical chemistry of love? Is there a cure to heal the pain of love.

ek chameli ke manDve tale`
maikade se zara duur us moR par
do badan
chaaragarBeneath the jasmine bower, just past the tavern around the corner, two loving souls, O Healer.

chaaragar – maKhdoom mohiuddin

Translation by Badri Raina

O Saviour

Screened beneath a scrubby tree
Of fainting, fragrant Chameli,
Some distance from the tavern,
Some distance by a cavern,
Two fond souls
Burnt up whole
In the heat of love’s delight.

Love the Word,
Love the God,
Love the pyre, the raking rod;
Two fond souls,
Damp with the dew,
Soaking in the silver moon anew,
Like a pair of dusky flowers true.

The evening breeze,
Done with securing soft release,
Stole into her raven tresses,
And presses gently, gently presses,
Against the warmly glowing cheek,
And does for a glorious moment cease.

By daylight we saw them there,
And by night we saw them there,
And by the stars burning bright;
And silent minarets saw them too,
And the temple portals saw them too,
And the chinks in the tavern saw them too.

From the beginning to the end
Is there amidst your arsenal
A cure for love?
O, tell us now,
Is there amidst your arsenal
An answer to this vow?

Beneath the fainting Chameli,
Away from the tavern,
Away by a cavern,
Two fond souls
Burnt in wholes
O Saviour, helplessly.