Click here for background and on any passage for word meanings and explanatory discussion. anand narain mulla (1901-1997) was a progressive thinker, poet, jurist, politician, member of the lok sabha and then the rajya sabha. He followed the deliberations of the Constituent Assembly and wrote with much feeling about partition and also about the status of urdu, communal hatred and blind faith. This Ghazal was written in Jan 1949 in the backdrop of the deliberations of the Constituent Assembly. A few ash’aar have been omitted in this version.
1
faqat¹ apni sadaa² hi ko na aavaaz-e jahaaN samjho
hudood³-e aashiyaaN⁴ hi ko na sahn⁵-e gulsitaaN⁶ samjho  1.only 2.voice 3.limits 4.nest 5.yard, expanse 6.garden

Do not be so narrow minded as to think that your voice alone is the voice of the world. Do not think that the extent of your nest is the expanse of the garden.
2
Kharosh¹-e bazm² meN bhi saaz³-e dil chheRe hi jaata huN
akela huN abhi laikin mujhi ko kaarvaaN samjho    1.noise 2.assembly 3.music
Even in this noise, I keep singing the song of my heart. I am by myself still, but think of me as a gathering caravan.
3
meri nazrauN meN jo kuchh hai are us ko to such maano
meri baatauN ko tum chaahe mera husn-e-bayaaN¹ samjho   1.beautiful speech
You may discount my verse as beautiful (but ineffective) poetry, but at least consider the vision (of unity) that I have in my eyes.
4
falak¹ vaalo, falak par rah ke samjhe ho na samjhoge
zamiN ka dard kya hai aa ke zer²-e aasmaaN samjho     1.skies, heavens 2.under
O, you who dwell in the heavens, you will never understand the pain of earth dwellers from over there. Come beneath the sky (on earth) and feel what they feel. This may be a reflection on etherial and unrealistic debates in the Constituent Assembly.
5
ye dard-e-jaavedaaN¹ vaala tasavvur² ishq³ ka kab tak
Gham-e-hasti⁴ meN ab is ko nishaat-e-naagahaaN⁵ samjho    1.eternal pain/suffering in love 2.concept 3.love 4.pain/trials of living 5.unpredictable/undependable pleasure
The ‘eternal pain of love’ which itself is an idealistic view of unrequited love is used here as a symbolic of all idealism. How long will you hang on to idealism. In the struggle for life, consider this as undependable and discuss realistic plans.
6
kahiN teGh¹ o qalam se bhi miTe haiN tafreqe² dil ke
miTaana hai to pahle rakh ke saaGhar³ darmiyaaN⁴ samjho    1.sword 2.differences 3.flask (of wine) 4.between
The flast of wine could be a symbol of love and/or of liberal thinking and acceptance of the “other”. Differences of the heart can never be settled by the sword or the pen … force or pure logic. Consider using love and acceptance.
7
sha’oor¹ o fikr² ki hai tarbiyat³ aur poKhtagi⁴ is se
alag chalte raho laikin mazaaq-e-kaarvaaN⁵ samjho    1.knowledge 2.reason 3.training/learning 4.maturity 5.ways of the group
Your own knowledge and reason will improve and become more mature if you consider the ways of the group (of others).
8
lab-e-maadar¹ ne mulla² loriyaaN jis meN sunaaii thiiN
vo din aaya hai ab us ko bhi GhairauN³ ki zabaaN samjho    1.mother’s lips 2.pen name of the poet 3.other, foreign
This was written in the context of the discussion of ‘national language’ in the Constituent Assembly. Early thinking and the suggestion of both nehru and gandhi was ‘hindustani’ be adopted as a compromise/amalgam of the two rival claims (though both are, or at least were at that time, the same language in two different scripts). But this compromise was rejected in favour of ‘hindi’ as the national language. It was argued that ‘urdu’ is foreign. anand narain mulla protests … the time has come when the language in which I heard lullabies from my mother’s lips, should now be considered foreign.