Click here for background and on any passage for word meanings and explanatory discussion. najma tasadduq, (1917-xxxx), sialkot, pakistan. shaagird of seemab akbarabadi. She grew up in an orthodox and conservative family with much opposition to her higher education, but she persisted and completed her MA, BT and worked in the education department. She learnt urdu, faarsi and arabi and started composing early in life, but suspended her poetic inclination during her college education. During her time, women poets wrote in the male gender, but she broke tradition and wrote in her own gender and openly expressed her feelings, a great taboo at the time. This is linked to the icon for ‘kiye jaa raha huN maiN’ on the ‘radeef-Refrain’ page along with several Ghazal of the same refrain.
1
saamaan¹-e sad-bahaar² kiye jaa rahi huN maiN
daaGh³ apne aashkaar⁴ kiye jaa rahi huN maiN    1.means, arrangements 2.hundred springs 3.wounds 4.display, reveal
In poetic convention the wounds of the heart are considered to be blooming roses, red in colour. Thus, the poet by revealing her wounds is displaying flowers. These flowers then are the means by which a hundred springs will arrive in the garden.
2
Khud se tujhe do-chaar¹ kiye jaa rahi huN maiN
Ghaflat² ko hoshiyaar³ kiye jaa rahi huN maiN    1.look straight in the eye, face to face 2.indifference, unawareness 3.aware, sensitive, alert
I am forcing you to look yourselves in the eye (but it is possible that the poet is addressing herself. In that case we should read the ‘you’ as ‘me’ and ‘yourselves’ as ‘myself’. I am making you alert to the indifference you show towards me. I am making you (or me) reckon the unawareness you (or I) have of yourselves (or myself)… getting you (or me) to know yourself (or myself).
3
jadoo nigaah-e-shauq¹ nahiN phir bhi husn² ko
aaya hua sa pyaar kiye jaa rahi huN maiN    1.the glance of desire 2.beauty, beloved
‘nigaah-e-shauq’ – the glance of desire is usually associated with the lover and because traditionally poets have been thought of as male this is has been associated with the poet/lover. But in this case the poet is female, so the association should be poet/husn/beauty. Thus, this might be a reflection on the quality of the lover’s glance. It is not exactly magical/enchanting that it might make me fall in love immediately but still I embellish my beauty as if love is happening.
4
muddat¹ se garche² dekh rahi huN Khud apni raah³
tera bhi intezaar⁴ kiye jaa rahi huN maiN    1.long time 2.even though 3.raah dekhna is an expression meaning waiting for 4.waiting, looking for, anticipating
The poet has been searching for herself – her own identity at the same time she has been waiting/looking forward to her lover. This is unusual because of its direct expression of desire by a female poet.
5
aaNkhoN meN aaNkheN Daal ke us mast¹ aaNkh ko
daanista² hoshiyaar³ kiye jaa rahi huN maiN    1.intoxicated 2.intentionally 3.awaken, bring back to sobriety/senses
‘aaNkhoN meN aaNkheN Daalna’ is to look straight in the eye. This could be figuratively, looking at herself, too. Whose ‘mast aaNkh’ is she looking into. Who is she intentionally bringing back to their senses. Herself, her beloved or anyone reading/listening to her Ghazal.
6
aana kisi ka aaj bhi mumkin¹ nahiN magar²
kyuN der se siNghaar kiye jaa rahi huN maiN    1.possible, likely 2.but
The ‘aaj bhi’ implies that she has been doing this/waiting for many days in the past and today is a repeat of past days. Thus, I know that it is not likely that ‘someone’ will come even today, so why do I keep adorning myself.
7
aahaT¹ si paa rahi huN teri dil ke aas-paas
ya tujh ko raazdaar² kiye jaa rahi huN maiN    1.footfall 2.confidant
I hear a soft sound somewhere near my heart or is that I have made you my confidant. Who is the ‘tujh-you’. Is it the heart itself, or the lover. Is the heart itself whispering to her or is she receiving messages from her lover. We have to decide.
8
is tarah¹ Gham ka bhoolna aasaan² to nahiN
kyuN Khud ko maigusaar³ kiye jaa rahi huN maiN    1.way, method 2.easy 3.wine-addict
This is not an easy way to forget sorrows. Why then am I getting addicted to wine.
9
maqsood¹ tajruba² hai keh aaGhaaz³-e ishq ko
anjaam⁴ se do-chaar⁵ kiye jaa rahi huN maiN   1.objective 2.experience 3.beginning 4.end 5.face to face
It is my objective that the beginning of love get some experience of what is to come. That is why I keep bringing it face to face with the end. Said mir taqi mir …
raah-e duur-e ishq meN rota hai kya
aage aage dekhiye hota hai kya
10
tujh se bhi kar rahi huN alag¹ tujh ko haaN tujhe
yakta²-e rozgaar³ kiye jaa rahi huN maiN    1.separate 2.unique 3.every day life, world
I am distinguishing you from yourself, yes, yourself. (Perhaps she means the ideal from the actual). I am making you unique in this world.
11
apni nigaah¹-e shauq² se duniya-e husn³ ka
har raaz⁴ aashkaar⁵ kiye jaa rahi huN maiN    1.eyes, glance 2.desire, love 3.beauty 4.secret 5.reveal, show
It is not the man/lover alone, she too has ‘nigaah-e shauq’ – an eye expressing desire/love. The ‘world of beauty’ has ‘nigaah-e shauq’. Through her eyes, she is revealing the secrets of the ‘world of beauty’.
12
duniya sada¹ bahaar², mohabbat sada suhaag³
kyuN naala⁴ baar-baar kiye jaa rahi huN maiN    1.always 2.spring, celebration, joy 3.wedded, fulfilled 4.wailing, crying
The world is always like a joyful spring, love always finds fulfillment. Why then do I keep wailing and crying again and again. Perhaps this is a sarcastic comment on conventional romantic/sorrowful shaa’eri.
13
najma¹ ab aa chali hai sitaaroN ko niind si
kyuN un ka intezaar² kiye jaa rahi huN maiN   1.pen-name of the poet 2.wait
O najma, now the stars seem to be going to sleep i.e., it is late night, the stars are setting/disappearing and the sun rising. Why then am I still waiting for him. Said maKhdoom mohiuddin …
shab ke jaage hue taaroN ko bhi neend aane lagi
aapke aane ki ek aas thi ab jaane lagi