Click here for background and on any passage for word meanings and explanatory discussion. jamna prashaad raahi (1940-2017), aligaRh. Sahitya Akademi, UP, awardee. President, Progressive Writers’ Association. He specialized in composing in the style of Ghalib and traced his literary lineage to daaGh dehlavi. He has a whole collection in the style of Ghalib called ‘baazgasht-e Ghalib’. This Ghazal in the style of Ghalib’s ‘jahaaN tera naqsh-e qadam dekhte haiN’ is linked to ‘Ghalib naqsh-e qadam’. This Ghazal was extremely difficult to interpret. ‘raahi’ takes himself seriously as a ‘return-baazgasht-echo of Ghalib’ and makes his ash’aar difficult to understand like the complaint about
Ghalib voiced by aish dehlavi ‘magar un ki zabaaN vo aap samjheN ya Khuda samjhe’. I received a lot of help from two well wishers of urdushahkar zaheer from hyderabad and professor naim from University of Chicago.
1
haiN saNg-e-miil¹ raah² meN kis miir³-e fun⁴ ke paaNv
raKhsh⁵-e suKhan⁶ ko baar⁷ haiN asp⁸-e kohan⁹ ke paaNv    1.mile-stone, marker 2.path, way 3.leader 4.skill, talent 5.horse, steed, war-horse 6.verse, poetry 7.burden 8.horse, mule, beast of burden 9.ancient
Here raKhsh is used to mean a war-horse, a fast horse. It was the name of the legendary warrior rustum’s horse. As opposed to this, asp, which also means horse, is used to imply a slow beast of burden. The poet is along the path of writing/composing verse and he sees milestones/markers left by leaders of talent (he probably specifically means Ghalib). The steed of poetry in his case cannot be as nimble of the earlier raKhsh-e suKhan but is more like a beast of burden, lumbering along.
2
angRaai¹ lii bahaar² ne phailaa’e³ tan⁴ ke paaNv
baad-e-saba⁵ ne chhoo⁶ liye kis gulbadan⁷ ke paaNv    1.yawn 2.spring 3.stretch 4.taut, tight, pulled, stretched 5.morning breeze 6.touch 7.rose bodied
The beloved is ‘gulbadan’ – rose bodied. The morning breeze has touched her feet before blowing into the garden. As a result of that spring is waking up – yawning and stretching its legs. Thus, the arrival of spring is credited to the beauty of the beloved.
3
ze’r-o-zabar¹ hai shaaKh² to aalam³ hai Kham⁴ bah Kham
gahvaara⁵-e shabaab⁶ meN haiN shooKh-tan⁷ ke paaNv    1.upside down, confused, perplexed, amazed 2.branch 3.world 4.bowed 5.cradle 6.youth 7.embodiment of mischief
The beloved is an embodiment of mischief. She is an adolescent about to break out into youth … her feet stepping into the cradle/early stage of youth. The garden (represented here as the shaaKh-branch) is amazed at her beauty/youth and world bows to her. There may be juxtaposition of the adolescent beloved stepping into youth and into the garden (literally) in spring. The cradle of youth could be the swing on branches, which sway with joy as she swings.
4
sad¹ rashk²-e aks³-e aab⁴ sahi baal-o-par⁵ magar⁶
aaNkhoN meN ashk-baar⁷ haiN taa’uus-tan⁸ ke paaNv    1.hundred 2.envy 3.reflection, image 4.brilliance, shine 5.feathers and wings 6.but 7.shedding tears 8.peacock
It is a common perception that the peacock has lovely feathers but ugly feet. It is often used as an expression of ugliness and beauty side by side in the same entity. Thus, the brilliance of the wings and feathers of the peacock is so beautiful that it generates a hundred envies but its feet cause eyes to shed tears.
5
dushvaari¹-e safar² hai magar³ ahl⁴-e hausla⁵
haiN raftgaar⁶-e dasht⁷ bhi diivaana-pan⁸ ke paaNv    1.difficulty 2.journey 3.but 4.people of 5.courage, resolve 6.on the journey, walking 7.wilderness, desert 8.madness
Lovers are mad with passion, and they wander all over the desert looking for the beloved like majnuN looking for laila. They are also ahl-e hausla – people of resolve, they will not be dissuaded. Thus, the journey is difficult but resolute people are on the way to the desert with madness propelling their feet.
6
phir taar¹-haa²-e saaz³-e nafas⁴ tak hai barhami⁵
raqqaasa⁶-e hayaat⁷ le is zaKhma-zan⁸ ke paaNv    1.string, chord (of music) 2.pluralization 3.(musical) instrument 4.breath 5.disorder 6.dancer 7.life 8.plectrum striker i.e., musician
‘zaKhma or mizraab’ means the plectrum worn on the finger to pluck strings of a musical instrument. The one who strikes the plectrum against the strings is the ‘zaKhma-zan’, a musician. Once again there is disorder in the harmony of the strings of breath, in the chords that play the music of breath i.e., life is disordered. The dancer of life (life itself or the protagonist/poet) should bow down and touch the feet of the musician who is striking the plectrum. The musician could be fate or it could be god.
7
dast¹-e KhizaaN² se saaz³ kisi mehrbaaN⁴ ki hai
aazurda⁵-e bahaar⁶ haiN sarv⁷ o saman⁸ ke paaNv    1.hand 2.autumn 3.agreement, scheme, plan 4.kind, benevolent 5.afflicted, dissatisfied, unhappy 6.spring 7.cypress, grace, stature 8.jasmine, beauty, purity
The ‘sarv-cypress’ is considered symbolic of grace and stature because of its slender height and gentle swaying in the breeze. The ‘saman-jasmine’ is symbolic of purity, beauty and fragrance. In urdu poetic tradition both of these are sometimes portrayed as jealous of the beloved because she has more grace and stature, beauty and purity than either of them. The hand of autumn is colluding/conspiring with someone ‘kind and benevolent’ – this is used here sarcastically, and is not defined. The result of the conspiracy is that spring arrives and the beloved is able to display her grace and beauty in full glory, added to her gait, while the cypress and jasmine remain rooted. Hence, their feet are unhappy with the spring.
8
az¹ baad²-e hosh³ saaya⁴-e shafqat⁵ ko kya hua
kis be-Khudi⁶ ki nazr⁷ hu’e piir-zan⁸ ke paaNv     1.from, since 2.after 3.senses, sobriety 4.shadow, protection 5.nurturing love 6.intoxication, trance 7.devotional or sacrificial offering 8.old woman
There is a ‘piir-zan’ that figures in Ghalib’s she’r …
dii saadagi se jaan, paRuN kohkan ke paaNv
haihaat! kyuN nah TooT gaye piir-zan ke paaNv
This is the old woman dispatched by Khusro to lie to farhaad and tell him and shiriin is dead. farhaad kills himself and Ghalib says – alas! why did the old woman’s feet not break before she could get to farhaad. I am not sure if the piir-zan in jamna prashad raahi’s she’r is the same character. Ever since the poet/protagonist has come to his senses (maturity), the protection of nurturing love (saaya-e shafqat) has disappeared. Why? Has the poet committed some transgression in an act of be-Khudi, sacrificing the feet of the old woman, who is no longer able to follow him around and offer nurture. I am just flailing.
9
zanjiir¹-e qaid² o band³-e nafas⁴ khul gaii to kya
sozan-gari⁵ se taNg⁶ haiN andar kafan⁷ ke paaNv    1.chain 2.bondage 3.tie, continuity 4.breath 5.sewing, needle work 6.tight 7.burial shroud
The whole first misra simply means … to die … the soul has been set free of the bondage of continuous breathing. Thus, what if you are dead, your feet are still tied tightly inside the burial shroud i.e., you cannot go anywhere. Perhaps the poet regrets that his feet are tied inside the burial shroud unlike what Ghalib and zafar have to say – Here is what Ghalib said –
allah-r’e zauq-e dasht-navardi keh baad-e marg
hilt’e haiN Khud-ba-Khud mer’e andar kafan ke paaNv
By god, look at the desire/taste for desert-wandering; even after death, wrapped in a burial shroud, his feet continue to twitch.
And this is what bahadur shah zafar said …
yaaN tak hai shauq-e dasht-navardi keh duuN nikaal
maiN apnay baad-e marg bhi baahar kafan ke paaNv
The love of desert-wandering is so strong that after death, I poke my feet out of the burial shroud.
10
pesh¹-e saraab² dhoka³ hua mauj⁴-e aab⁵ ka
choome⁶ haiN is zamiiN ne kisi jaaN-shikan⁷ ke paaNv    1.before, in front of 2.mirage 3.deception, illusion 4.wave 5.water 6.kiss 7.life breaking, killing
The beloved is described as ‘jaaN shikan’. This piece of land in the desert must have kissed the feet of the beloved from where it learnt this trick of killing. That is why there is an illusion of waves of water before (in front of) a mirage. The killing (jaaN-shikan) beloved is artful in luring the gullible lovers into her love trap. Like a mirage, which deceives the thirsty desert caravans and makes them lose life in their mistaken chase of water, the poet says that this part of land too would have kissed the feet of her deceitful beloved and was thus blessed with the power to trick the unsuspecting into believing it eventually leading them to death.
11
masroor¹ tu jo dosh²-e havaa par hai aaj kal
maqdoor³ ho to thaam⁴ le Ghalib-suKhan⁵ ke paaNv    1.elated 2.shoulder, back 3.ability 4.hold 5.reference to Ghalib but also means prevailing over/conquering verse/poetry
To ride on the shoulders of air is to be vain without much substance holding you up. Thus, the poet is addressing himself … you are elated these days because you are vain in thinking that you have something, but you are simply riding on the back of wind. If you have the ability, hold the feet of Ghalib who conquered the art of poetry.