Click here for background and on any passage for word meanings and explanatory discussion. josh malihabadi is well known for his fiery nazm. He also wrote many romantic as well as cerebral nazm and Ghazal. His marsia are a celebration of dignified death rather than bowing to injustice even at the cost of life. He also wrote numerous rubaaii. This series is a collection of nearly 300 rubaaiyaat from various books organized by subject. This selection represents a not uncommon feature among poets, who consider their suKhan/verse to be divinely inspired.
1
daana¹-e rumooz²-e een-o-aaN³ huN aye dost
maula⁴-e akaabir⁵-e jahaaN huN aye dost
kyuN ahl-e-nazar⁶ paRheN na mera kalema⁷
maiN shaa’er-e aaKhir-uz-zamaaN⁸ huN aye dost 1.knowledgable of 2.secrets 3.this and that, disputation 4.leader 5.respected, great 6.people of discriminating taste 7.assertion of faith/belief 8.the last/final shaa’er of the time
I am well versed in the secrets of disputation/logic. I am the leader of the respected/great ones of this world. Why should discriminating people not assert their faith in me. After all, I am the last/best poet of all time. Thus, josh draws a parallel between himself and the prophet of islam. He considers himself the last among poets just as mohammed is considered the last among prophets.
2
jab charKh¹ pe karvaT² si badalti hai kiran
aur raat utaarti hai apna kaNgan
dhundle khetauN, Ghunooda³ maidaanauN meN
sunta huN dil-e arz-o-sama⁴ ki dhaRkan 1.sky 2.side – as in changing sides, rolling over in sleep or when waking up 3.sleepy 4.earth and sky/heaven
How/when does josh conceive of (receive ilhaam-inspiration for) his verse. He was known to be an admirer of dawn and has written several nazm/Ghazal about its beauty and the inspiration it provides. When the ray of light rolls over in the sky (pre-dawn), when Night takes off its bracelets (before retiring to bed – giving way to Day), then, among hazy fields and sleepy expanses, I hear the heartbeat of the earth and sky (which gives me inspiration to compose verse).
3
phooTi vo kiran, zamin vo bedaar¹ hui
aamada²-e raqs³ o raNg o ruKhsaar⁴ hui
ek loch⁵ se vo naaKhun-e mutrib⁶ ne chhua
hasti⁷ ke sitaar meN vo jhankaar hui 1.awake 2.get ready 3.dance 4.face, beauty 5.swing, elegant style 6.musician 7.life
It is pre-dawn. The first rays of light break out. The earth wakes up and gets ready for its beautiful and colourful dance. The musician (poet) gracefully touches/plucks the string of the sitar of life, making tunes reverberate (the poet writes his verse).
4
us vaqt se huN, vaqt ka jab tha na sha’oor¹
mauhoom² tha jab nizaam-e-shamsi³ ka zahoor⁴
harf-e-kun⁵ to hai ek tifl-e-maktab⁶
meri aavaaz ki qadaamat⁷ ke huzoor⁸   1.knowledge, awareness 2.imaginary, supposition 3.order of the sun, planetary system, universe 4.appearance, manifestation 5.word of creation (god said, let there be …) 6.school/young child 7.antiquity 8.before, in the presence of
josh is speaking of the word of the poet. It has been around since before there was a concept of time, when the universe was but a faint image. The command/decree of creation is but a child before the antiquity of my (poet’s) verse i.e. poetry/versification was created even before the universe.
5
apni zulmat¹ Khazeena²-e shola-e-toor³
apni aashuftagi⁴, Kharosh⁵-e mansoor⁶
apni lab-bastagi⁷ nasheed⁸-e qur’aaN
apni luknat⁹ navaa¹⁰-e tauraat¹¹ o zuboor¹²   1.darkness 2.treasure of 3.flame of Mt. Sinaii 4.confusion, madness 5.voice of, recitation of 6.sufi scholar who was stoned to death, symbol of resistance 7.keeping lips/mouth closed 8.lyrical recitation 9.stammering, mumbling 10.voice of 11.Torah 12.Psalms of David
Moses went on Mt. Sinaaii asking to see god … there was a manifestation of divinity (lightning strike or burning bush). Thus “shola-e toor” is divine light. Even the darkness of the poet is like the wealth/treasure of divine light. mansoor was a sufi scholar who declared “an al haq – I am the Truth” after careful study. He was charged with heresy and executed, when he refused to recant. Even the incoherent utterances of the poet are equal to the powerful assertion of mansoor, says josh. Even without speaking we (poets) say verse like the musical recitation of the qur’aan and our mumbling is equal to the music of David (legend is that music played in David’s court was so divine that even animals gathered to listen).
6
masti meN garebaan¹ jo phaaRa hum ne
geti² ka alam³ charKh⁴ pe gaaRa hum ne
sar par lahraaye sad⁵ nizaam-e-shamsi⁶
jab daaman⁷-e taKheel⁸ ko jhaaRa hum ne 1.collar 2.world, earth 3.flag, banner 4.sky, heaven 5.hundred 6.workings of the sun/planetary system/universe 7.hem of the robe 8.thought, imagination
In enthusiastic fervour, when we (poets) rent our collar (gave vent to our emotions), we captured the heavens. When we dusted off the hem of the robe of our imagination, a hundred secrets of the universe floated away (were revealed).
7
kal subah ko maiN ba-shahpar¹-e soz-o-gudaaz²
pahuNcha jo sar-e-arsh³ uTha parda-e-raaz⁴
aur jhoom ke jab ek qadam aur baRha
qausain⁵ ke TooTne ki aaii aavaaz 1.main wing, wings of flight 2.pain and pleasure 3.head/top of heaven 4.curtain of secrets 5.arches
Yesterday at dawn, when I took flight on the wings of pain and sorrow and reached the top of heavens, the curtain of secrets (of the universe or of god) lifted. And with swagger, as I took a few more steps, I heard the sound of crunching of arches. This draws heavily from the story of me’raaj. mohammed ascended heaven and got close to god. ‘qaab qausain’ – the distance between two arches or half arches implies that when two arches get close to each other they look like one continuous arch. There is no distance between them. That is how the final stage of me’raaj is described. josh steps into this union and claims similar closeness to god.