Click here for background and on any passage for word meanings and explanatory discussion. mustafa KhaaN shefta (1809-1869) contemporary and close friend of Ghalib. Nawab of jahaaNgirabad and bulandshahr. He was framed and sentenced to seven years imprisonment after 1857. His sentence was commuted but he lost his property and pension. Much is work is reported to have been lost in 1857. His historical notes of poets and their compositions of the time ‘gulshan-e be-Khaar’ is quite valuable. This Ghazal in the zamin of Ghalib’s ‘saaqi ne kuchh mila na diya ho sharaab meN’ is part of a series composed by zauq, zafar, momin and aazurda all probably for the same mushaa’era at the Red Fort in 1847.
1
aaraam se hai kaun jahaan¹-e Kharaab² meN
gul³ siina-chaak⁴ aur saba⁵ izteraab⁶ meN   1.world 2.sorrowful 3.rose 4.torn bosom 5.morning breeze 6.restlessness
In urdu poetic tradition when flowers bloom it can be a sign of happiness/laughing/smiling but it is sometimes described as tearing open their breasts. Also the morning breeze caresses buds in the garden and playfully gets them to bloom. Sometimes it is described as being restless. The poet takes the the more sorrowful views here. Who is comfortable/happy in this sorrowful/material world. Even the rose has its bosom torn and the morning breeze is restless.
2
sub us meN mahv¹ aur vo sub se alaaheda²
aaiine meN hai aab³, na aaiina aab meN   1.engrossed 2.separate, different, aloof 3.shine, polish, reflectivity
This could be about the beloved or about the divine. Everyone is engrossed/thinking about the divine, but he/she/it is apart/aloof/hidden from all. The divine image is supposed to be reflected in the heart/aaiina, your aaiina has polish/reflecivity. See the image of the divine in it. I am struggling to interpret the second half of the second misra. I can make some sense of it if I interpret the aaiina here to mean divine reflection and aab to mean shine/glory/attraction (of the material world). Thus, there no divine reflection in the attractions/temptations of the material world, but only in the polish of the heart.
3
mu’aani¹ ki fikr² chaahiye soorat se kya husool³
kya faa’eda⁴ hai mauj⁵ agar hai saraab⁶ meN   1.meaning, real substance 2.concern, thought 3.benefit 4.profit, use 5.wave 6.mirage
Our concern should be with real substance, what is the benefit of appearances (face). What is the use if we see a wave in a mirage (there is no real water in it). This is probably an implication that we should be concerned about the spiritual and not with what we can see – material.
4
ne¹ baad²-e nau-bahaar³ hai ab na shamiim⁴-e gul⁵
hum ko bahut sabaat⁶ raha inzteraab⁷ meN    1.neither 2.breeze 3.new spring 4.fragrant breeze 5.rose 6.stability, endurance, steadfast determination 7.restlessness
The poet/lover is fixated/determined about the beloved in his restlessness. He does not feel/is not aware of the breeze heralding the spring, nor the breeze bringing fragrance of the rose.
5
hairat¹ hai kya naqaab² haiN gar raNg-raNg³ ke
nairaNg⁴-e jalva⁵ se hai tanavv’o⁶ naqaab² meN    1.surprise, puzzle 2.veil 3.different colours/kinds 4.magic, miracle 5.image, glory 6.variety
The divine spirit appears to us in different colours/disguises/manifestations. Why should we be puzzled if the veils are of different kinds. It is a miracle of its glory that there is so much variety in its veils.
6
fursat kahaaN keh aur bhi kuchh kaam kiijiye
baazi meN jum’a sarf hai shamba sharaab meN   1.leisure 2.wager, gambling 3.Friday 4.spent 5.Saturday
Where can I find time to do anything else. All of Friday is spent in gambling and Saturday in drinking wine.
7
zaat¹ o sifaat² may bhi yahi rabt³ samjhiye
jo aaftaab⁴ o raushni-e aaftaab⁴ meN   1.(divine) being 2.(divine) attributes 3.relationship 4.sun
Think of the relationship between the divine being and its attributes as those between the sun and sunlight.
8
qat’a¹-e nazar² jo naqsh-o-nigaar³-e jahaaN⁴ se ho
dekho vo aaNkh se jo na dekha ho Khwaab⁵ meN    1.cut, cut off 2.sight 3.pictures/appearances and embellisments, attractions 4.world 5.dream
If you are able to take your sight off the attractions of the material world, you will be able able see (plainly) with your eyes that which you never even dreamt of seeing.
9
tuuba¹ lahum² jo kushta³-e ishq⁴-e afeef⁵ haiN
kya shub’h⁶ us giroh⁷ ke husn-e-m’aab⁸ meN   1.legendary fruit bearing tree in heaven 2.for them (arabi), destined to 3.killed/stricken by 4.love 5.pure, unadulterated 6.doubt 7.group 8.possessing beauty
For them is the tuuba, who are stricken with pure love, of the divine. They are destined for heaven. How can there be any doubt that this group possesses great beauty (of spirit).
10
marne ke baad hi kahiN shaa’ed¹ pata² lage
khoya³ hai hum ne aap ko ahd⁴-e shabaab⁵ meN   1.perhaps 2.find, discover 3.lost 4.age, times 5.youth
Perhaps only after death will I discover that I lost you a long time ago, during the time of my youth. The implication is that he lives under the delusion/in the hope that he still a chance to win her even to the point of his death.
11
phir hai havaa-e mutrib o mai hum ko shefta
muddat guzar gaii var’a o ijtenaab meN    1.havaa also mean intense desire 2.singer 3.wine 4.penname of the poet 5.long time 6.passed 7.observant, piety 8.abstinence
O shefta, I once again have the desire for song and wine. I have been pious, observant and have abstained for too long now.