Click here for background and on any passage for word meanings and explanatory discussion. buddh prakash gupta jauhar deobandi (1912-xxxx), saharanpur, UP. Family background of agriculture, grain dealership and money lending. Finished high school locally, probably in urdu. There was a strong tradition of monthly mushaa’era in sahaaranpur. Participated in the audience and later as a shaa’er. Continued family business and kept working on urdu. Granted an honorary PhD by aligaRh university, on his work related to non-muslim shu’ara. This nazm is linked to ‘urdu’ on the Theme Index.
1
Khusro¹ ne ibtedaa² meN Daali binaa³-e urdu
faizaan⁴ se hai uss ke nashv-o-numaa⁵-e urdu    1.amir Khusro (1253–1325) 2.beginning 3.foundation 4.benevolence 5.growth and prominence
amir Khusro laid the foundation of urdu in the beginning. It is because of his benevolence that urdu has grown and become prominent.
2
jab she’r meN vali¹ ne phooNki sadaa²-e urdu
uRne lagi faza³ meN zulf⁴-e rasaa⁵-e urdu   1.vali dakkhani (1667-1707) 2.sound 3.atmosphere, air 4.hair 5.far-reaching
In the 1600s, urdu was looked upon as an upstart. Renowned shu’ara wrote in faarsi. It is said that vali dakkhani’s visit to dehli changed that and encouraged up and coming shu’ara to compose in urdu. Thus, when vali breathed his sound into urdu, its hair spread out in the air to reach far and wide.
3
urdu¹ meN janm le kar darbaar² meN yeh kheli
mahloN³ meN phir sajaa’e⁴ baazaar-haa⁵-e urdu    1.army camp 2.royal court 3.palaces 4.decorated, adornment 5.‘haa’ in faarsi is used for pluralization
One debatable thought is that urdu started in army camps for the soldiers to learn to speak to the locals. shams-ur-rahman faaruqi has written extensively about the origins of urdu in the much wider indo-gangetic plain. Keeping that controversy in mind … the poet says … urdu, taking birth in army camps, began to play in royal courts, became the adornment of palaces and its bazaars.
4
noor-e jahaaN¹ ne parkha², zeb-un-nissa³ ne jaaNcha⁴
vikToria⁵ ne sooNgha atr⁶-e hinaa⁷-e urdu     1.noor jahaaN (1577-1645) wife of jahaaNgir 2.tried 3.zeb-un-nissa (1638-1702) eldest child of auraNgzeb 4.examined, studies 5.queen Victoria (1819-1901) 6.perfume 7.henna
It appears that while the formal court language remained faarsi, the spoken language in the royal household increasingly moved towards urdu under the influence of attendants. In the same way it is recorded that Victoria learnt urdu including reading and writing from one of her attendants who was specially sent to her from India.
5
gulzaar¹-e miir² o sauda³, shaadaab⁴ kar chuki jab
Ghalib⁵ ke phir chaman se guzri sabaa⁶-e urdu   1.garden 2.mir taqi mir (1722-1810) 3.mohammed rafi sauda (1713-1781) 4.verdant, flowering, growing 5.Ghalib (1797-1869) 6.breeze
After it had turned the garden of sauda and mir verdant and blooming, the breeze of urdu passed through the garden of Ghalib.
6
jitni bhi haiN zabaaneN¹, saNgam² hai yeh sabhi ka
maahi³ se taa⁴ ba mah⁵ hai, aks⁶-e zia⁷-e urdu    1.languages 2.confluence 3.fish 4.until 5.moon 6.reflection 7.light, brilliance
It (urdu) is a confluence (reKhta, one of the early names of urdu means mixture) of all languages. Here ‘maahi’ is meant to be fish constellation. Thus, from ‘fish’ to the ‘moon’ is used to imply – across the sky. The reflection/image of the light of urdu can be seen from one end of the sky to the other.
7
kitnay urooj¹ aa’e kitnay zavaal² aa’e
ab tak vahi hai jauhar³ arz⁴-o samaa⁵-e urdu    1.climax, peak 2.downfall, valley 3.pen-name of the poet, brilliance 4.land, earth 5.sky
The ‘land and sky of urdu, arz-o-samaa-e urdu’ can mean the domain of urdu. Thus, there have been many peaks and valleys the domain of urdu has remained bright.