Click here for background and on any passage for word meanings and explanatory discussion. mufti sadruddin aazurda (1789-1868), dehli. Chief mufti/judge. He was a close friend of Ghalib. Ghalib was presented in his court on charges of gambling. He sentenced him and, on the side, paid his fine. After the 1857 war he was arrested, and all his property was confiscated. His compositions were probably never published during his lifetime, except in magazines. This Ghazal is linked to ‘saaqi ne kuchh mila na diya ho sharaab meN’ under the page, “Ghalib naqsh-e qadam”. But this and several others in the same zamin were probably composed for the same mushaa’era by Ghalib’s contemporaries. To recognize this, a category called “1800s hum asar” has been created and such Ghazal have been linked to it.
1
kya jaano jo asar¹ hai dam²-e sho’la-taab³ meN
ye vo hai barq⁴ aag lagaa de naqaab⁵ meN   1.effect 2.breath 3.flaming hot 4.lightning 5.veil
How can you/we know what effect her flaming hot breath has. This is a lightning strike that can set fire to the veil (or burn through the veil). The poet leaves it to us to imagine why her breath is flaming hot. Is it because she is angry at him? Or, is he talking about his own breath; his sigh that can reach far and burn her veil.
2
haal¹ is nigah² ka us ke saraape³ meN kya kahuN
muur⁴-e zaiif⁵ phaNs gaii jaa⁶ shahd⁷-e naab⁸ meN   1.condition 2.glance, sight, eyes 3.head to toe 4.ant 5.feeble 6.short for ‘jaa kar’ – going there 7.honey 8.pure
How can I describe the condition of my eyes when I look at her from head to toe. It is as if a feeble ant is tangled up in pure honey. The poet simply cannot look away.
3
zikr¹-e vafaa² vo sunte hi majlis³ se uTh gaye
kuchh guftagu⁴ hi Thiik na thi aise baab⁵ meN   1.mention, narrative 2.fidelity, keeping faith/promise 3.gathering 4.conversation 5.door, house, domain
The beloved is famous for breaking promises – promises for coming to a tryst and/or promises not to see the rival anymore. But in the gathering, when the poet/lover started to talk about keeping promises, she rose and left. Such conversation was inappropriate in the (public) domain, he concludes.
4
kya poochhte ho chaara¹-e huu² az-Khweesh³-e raftagaaN⁴
sau jaa⁵ se chaak⁶ jaama⁷ hai sozan⁸ Khalaab⁹ meN   1.cure, remedy, used here to mean answer/solution to a question/puzzle 2.existence, being (of god) 3.from our relatives 4.departed, dead 5.places 6.tears 7.clothes 8.needle 9.quagmire, muddy swamp
The poet expects that those who have departed before us would be able to give a solution to his puzzle about the divine being. But he has received no answers and helplessly throws up his hands … don’t ask me about it. The problem is like having a hundred tears in the dress and the needle is somewhere in a vast quagmire.
5
aavaaz-e suur¹ tere shahidoN² ko roz³-e hashr⁴
lagti thi ek bhanak⁵ si to kaanoN ko Khwaab⁶ meN   1.trumpet sounded by the angel israfeel announcing the day of judement 2.martyrs 3.day of 4.resurrection 5.faint sound 6.dream
It is believed that on the day of judgement the angel israfeel will blow a trumpet calling all the dead to rise and present themselves before god. The sound of the trumpet will be loud and painful for sinners and will cause havoc all around. But the lovers/suitors/admirers who have been killed by the beloved are absolved of all sin, because what they have done is admirable and they are martyrs. They will barely hear the trumpet like a faint sound and even that in a dream.
6
jo dekhte hi us ke ye guzra¹ kabhu nahiN
yaaqub² ke Khayaal³ o zulaiKha⁴ ke Khwaab⁵ meN   1.pass through, happened, occurred 2.Jacob/yaaqub, father of yusuf/Joseph 3.thought, imagination 4.wife of Egyption trader who fell in love with the handsome slave, yusuf/Joseph, he brought home 5.dream
This has reference to the story of yusuf and zulaiKha. yusuf was enslaved but eventually returned to his father. zulaiKha, whose husband had bought yusuf as a slave, fell madly in love with him and made bold advances. But yusuf did not reciprocate and ran away.
The first misra in one print edition reads, “jo dekhte hi us se guzra kabhu nahiN”. I spent a long time with my ustaad, moazzam siddiqi, but could not make sense of it. He suggested that there might be an error by the ‘kaatib’ – copy writer. The misra as written above is our best guess at what might be the original. Also, in the second misra ‘Khayaal’ and ‘Khwaab’ are probably used as a saying, “Khwaab of Khayaal” meaning not even in the wildest imagination.
Thus, when yusuf returned to yaquub, he could not have believed in his wildest imagination that he would re-unite with his son. In much the same way, zulaiKha could not have believed in her wildest imagination that yusuf would run away from her.
7
har har ru’eN¹ se Khirqa² ke mere hai KhuN-chakaaN³
Ghote⁴ to sau diye use zamzam⁵ ke aab⁶ meN   1.cotton, fibre 2.hermit’s robe, torn/patched/fragile robe 3.blood dripping 4.immerse, dip, drown 5.well/spring of holy/cleansing water near the kaaba 6.water
Blood drips from every fibre of my torn robe even though I dipped/washed it in the cleansing waters of zamzam. The blood stains simply would not wash away. Probably the implication is that these are blood stains from the wounds inflicted by the beloved. They will not get washed away either because they are very dear to the poet/lover or because the wounds are so deep and so many that blood keeps oozing out.
8
is chashm¹-e ashk-baar² ke kyuNkar ho saamne
rone ka m’aadda³ hi nahiN hai sahaab⁴ meN   1.eye 2.tear raining 3.substance, material, capacity 4.cloud
The poet/lover cries/weeps a lot; so much that it causes rain storms and floods. He is proud of his crying. He says how can the cloud come before this tear raining eye. It does not have the capacity to rain like my eye does.
9
qismat to dekh kholi girah¹ kuchh to rah gaye
naaKhun² hamaare TuuT ke band³-e naqaab⁴ meN   1.knot 2.nails, fingernails 3.ties 4.veil
The poet/lover got close enough to try to untie the knots of the beloved veil. He tried, but look at his bad luck, his finger nails broke and got stuck in the knots. He failed to undo the knot.
10
har-vaqt aarzu¹-e azaab²-e jahiim³ hai
haathoN se hijr⁴ ke huN maiN kya kya azaab² meN   1.desire, longing 2.punishment, retribution 3.hellfire 4.separation (from the beloved)
Look at the trials and tribulations I go through in separation from the beloved. These are so severe that I long for an easier time – burning in hellfire i.e., burning in hellfire is pleasant compared to separation from the beloved.