For word meanings and explanatory discussion in English click on the tabs marked “Roman” or “Notes”.
Recitation
jagjit singh
اثر ہونے تک – مرزا غالب
١
آہ کو چاہیے اک عمر اثر ہونے تک
کون جیتا ہے تری زلف کے سر ہونے تک
٢
دامِ ہر موج میں ہے حلقۂ صد کامِ نہنگ
دیکھیں کیا گزرے ہے قطرے پہ گہر ہونے تک
٣
عاشقی صبر طلب اور تمنّا بیتاب
دل کا کیا رنگ کروں خونِ جگر ہونے تک
٤
ہم نے مانا کہ تغافل نہ کروگے لیکن
خاک ہو جائینگے ہم تم کو خبر ہونے تک
٥
پرتوِ خور سے ہے شبنم کو فنا کی تعلیم
میں بھی ہوں ایک عنایت کی نظر ہونے تک
٦
یک نظر بیش نہیں فرصتِ ہستی غافل
گرمیِ بزم ہے اک رقصِ شرر ہونے تک
٧
غمِ ہستی کا اسد کس سے ہو جز مرگ علاج
شمع ہر رنگ میں جلتی ہے سحر ہونے تک
असर होने तक- मिरज़ा ग़ालिब
1
आह को चाहिये इक उम्र असर होने तक
कौन जीता है तिरी ज़ुलफ़ के सर होने तक
2
दाम-ए हर मौज में है हल्क़ा ए सद काम-ए नेहंग
देखें कया गुज़रे है क़तरे पे गुहर होने तक
3
आशिक़ी सबर-तलब और तमन्ना बेताब
दिल का क्या रंग करूं ख़ून ए जिगर होने तक
4
हम ने माना कि तग़ाफ़ुल न करोगे लेकिन
ख़ाक हो जाएंगे हम तुम को ख़बर होने तक
5
परतव ए ख़ुर से है शब्नम को फ़ना की ता`लीम
मैं भी हूं एक इनायत की नज़र होने तक
6
यक नज़र बेश नहीं फ़ुरसत ए हसती ग़ाफ़िल
गरमी ए बज़म है इक रक़स ए शरर होने तक
7
ग़म ए हसती का असद किस से हो जुज़ मरग इलाज
शम`अ हर रंग में जलती है सहर होने तक
Click here for background and on any passage for word meanings and explanatory discussion. mirza asadullah KhaaN Ghalib (1797-1869). I dare not write any introduction. On more than one occasion Ghalib has warned his readers that he needs no introduction or even address. I humbly comply. badri raina, retired professor of English, dehli University, poet, writer, columnist and a dear friend has translated several Ghalib Ghazal and published them as a book.
1
aah1 ko chaahiye ik umr2 asar3 hone tak
kaun jeetaa hai terii zulf4 ke sar hone5 tak1.sigh 2.lifetime 3.effect 4.curls, tresses 5.“sar hona” – to overcome
The lover is watching/imagining the beloved and sighing as she attempts to “overcome” – straighten the curls of her long tresses. He hopes that she will be done and will observe his sighing which will have an effect on her and she will soften towards him but realizes that his life is shorter than the time it takes to straighten out those curls – a sigh needs a lifetime to have an effect.
2
daam1-e har mauj2 meN hai halqah3-e sad4 kaam5-e nihaNg6
dekheN kyaa guzre7 hai qatre8 pe guhar9 hone tak1.net 2.every wave 3.circle, encirclement, trap 4.hundred 5.throat, jaws 6.crocodile 7.happens to 8.drop 9.pearl
There is a folk belief that some (selected/fortunate) rain drops get to the ocean floor and to the oyster intact. It is only these drops that become pearls. The goal of human life is to become a pearl but the process is fraught with danger. Every wave (of the ocean) is a net encircled/entrapped by the throat/jaws of crocodiles. The first misra keeps you in suspense and only after you hear that we have to wait and see what happens to the drop by the time it becomes a pearl do we realize that it has pass intact through the jaws of crocodiles. Sufi attaining fanaa/union. Not every utterance becomes a she’r.
3
aashiqii1 sabr-talab2 aur tamannaa3 betaab4
dil ka kyaa raNg5 karooN Khoon-e jigar6 hone tak1.romance, love 2.patience demanding 3.desire 4.restless, impatient 5.colour, condition 6.blood of the liver, liver becoming blood, fortitude lost dil-jigar – emotions-life – “jigar Khoon hona” is to lose fortitude, lose life.“raNg karna” is to keep a certain desired style/condition.
Thus the lover is torn between patience and impatience. He wonders how he shall “control” his heart before he loses all fortitude or even life.
4
ham ne maanaa ke taGhaaful1 na karoge lekin
Khaak2 ho jaaeNge ham tum ko Khabar3 hone tak1.negligence, forgetfulness 2.dust 3.awareness, news
If the lover accepts the beloved’s promise not to neglect him, then he is in her favours but has to wait. The wait is so long that he will become dust i.e.he will die even before she gets news of him.
5
partav1-e Khur2 se hai shabnam ko fanaa3 kii ta’leem4
maiN bhi hooN ek inaayat5 ki nazar hone tak1.rays of light 2.short for Khursheed, sun 3.destruction, oblivion 4.education, instruction
The rays of the sun are benevolent for the earth. But they are also an order to dew drops to evaporate and be gone. The lover is like dew and the beloved’s looks are like sun rays. A favourable look from the beloved is enough for his “fanaa” much like ‘ke Khushi se mar na jaate agar aetebaar hota’.
6
yak1 nazar2 besh3 nahiN fursat4-e hastii5 Ghaafil6
garmii-e-bazm7 hai ik raqs-e-sharar8 hone tak1.only one 2.glance 3.more, longer 4.liesure, leave/permission 5.existence, life 6.forgetful one 7.celebration of the assembly 8.dance of the spark
It is commonly believed that a lamp flares up even as it runs of wax/oil and is extinguished. Extinguishing the lamp is also a metaphor for the end of the celebration of the assembly. The flaring up of the lamp is but a brief moment. The glance of the beloved is also brief and the lover has permission to live only for this brief moment. After this the celebration is over – one brief glance is all he gets.
7
Gham-e-hastii1 ka asad2 kis se ho juz3 marg4 ilaaj
sham’a har raNg5 meN jaltii6 hai sahar7 hone tak1.grief of existence/life 2.Asadullah – Ghalib’s name. His “taKhallus” was “asad” before he adapted “Ghalib” 3.excpet for 4.death 5.every condition 6.burn/suffer 7.dawn
There is no cure for the grief of life except death. See – the lamp too burns/suffers through all conditions, all night long, until dawn when it is relieved of its suffering/burning and is put out i.e.extinguished/killed.
mirza asadullah KhaaN Ghalib (1797-1869). I dare not write any introduction. On more than one occasion Ghalib has warned his readers that he needs no introduction or even address. I humbly comply. badri raina, retired professor of English, dehli University, poet, writer, columnist and a dear friend has translated several Ghalib Ghazal and published them as a book.
1
aah1 ko chaahiye ik umr2 asar3 hone tak
kaun jeetaa hai terii zulf4 ke sar hone5 tak
1.sigh 2.lifetime 3.effect 4.curls, tresses 5.“sar hona” – to overcome
The lover is watching/imagining the beloved and sighing as she attempts to “overcome” – straighten the curls of her long tresses. He hopes that she will be done and will observe his sighing which will have an effect on her and she will soften towards him but realizes that his life is shorter than the time it takes to straighten out those curls – a sigh needs a lifetime to have an effect.
2
daam1-e har mauj2 meN hai halqah3-e sad4 kaam5-e nihaNg6
dekheN kyaa guzre7 hai qatre8 pe guhar9 hone tak
1.net 2.every wave 3.circle, encirclement, trap 4.hundred 5.throat, jaws 6.crocodile 7.happens to 8.drop 9.pearl
There is a folk belief that some (selected/fortunate) rain drops get to the ocean floor and to the oyster intact. It is only these drops that become pearls. The goal of human life is to become a pearl but the process is fraught with danger. Every wave (of the ocean) is a net encircled/entrapped by the throat/jaws of crocodiles. The first misra keeps you in suspense and only after you hear that we have to wait and see what happens to the drop by the time it becomes a pearl do we realize that it has pass intact through the jaws of crocodiles. Sufi attaining fanaa/union. Not every utterance becomes a she’r.
3
aashiqii1 sabr-talab2 aur tamannaa3 betaab4
dil ka kyaa raNg5 karooN Khoon-e jigar6 hone tak
1.romance, love 2.patience demanding 3.desire 4.restless, impatient 5.colour, condition 6.blood of the liver, liver becoming blood, fortitude lost
dil-jigar – emotions-life – “jigar Khoon hona” is to lose fortitude, lose life.“raNg karna” is to keep a certain desired style/condition. Thus the lover is torn between patience and impatience. He wonders how he shall “control” his heart before he loses all fortitude or even life.
4
ham ne maanaa ke taGhaaful1 na karoge lekin
Khaak2 ho jaaeNge ham tum ko Khabar3 hone tak
1.negligence, forgetfulness 2.dust 3.awareness, news
If the lover accepts the beloved’s promise not to neglect him, then he is in her favours but has to wait. The wait is so long that he will become dust i.e.he will die even before she gets news of him.
5
partav1-e Khur2 se hai shabnam ko fanaa3 kii ta’leem4
maiN bhi hooN ek inaayat5 ki nazar hone tak
1.rays of light 2.short for Khursheed, sun 3.destruction, oblivion 4.eduction, instruction
The rays of the sun are benevolent for the earth. But they are also an order to dew drops to evaporate and be gone. The lover is like dew and the beloved’s looks are like sun rays. A favourable look from the beloved is enough for his “fanaa” much like “ke Khushi se mar na jaate agar aetebaar hota”.
6
yak1 nazar2 besh3 nahiN fursat4-e hastii5 Ghaafil6
garmii-e-bazm7 hai ik raqs-e-sharar8 hone tak
1.only one 2.glance 3.more, longer 4.liesure, leave/permission 5.existence, life 6.forgetful one 7.celebration of the assembly 8.dance of the spark
It is commonly believed that a lamp flares up even as it runs of wax/oil and is extinguished. Extinguishing the lamp is also a metaphor for the end of the celebration of the assembly. The flaring up of the lamp is but a brief moment. The glance of the beloved is also brief and the lover has permission to live only for this brief moment. After this the celebration is over – one brief glance is all he gets.
7
Gham-e-hastii1 ka asad2 kis se ho juz3 marg4 ilaaj
sham’a har raNg5 meN jaltii6 hai sahar7 hone tak
1.grief of existence/life 2.Asadullah – Ghalib’s name. His “taKhallus” was “asad” before he adapted “Ghalib” 3.excpet for 4.death 5.every condition 6.burn/suffer 7.dawn
There is no cure for the grief of life except death. See – the lamp too burns/suffers through all conditions, all night long, until dawn when it is relieved of its suffering/burning and is put out i.e.extinguished/killed.
asar hone tak – Badri Raina’s Rendition
1
Milleniums must pine away for sighs to take effect
How long can dwindling passion last, or dream that blissful act
2
Through the hungry jaws of crocodiles, undulates the sea
Such smitten waves throw up the pearl from unfathomed catastrophe
3
Patience is what love demands, yet desires singe the heart
What colours must I wear until my soul is rent apart?
4
I doubt not that some distant day, my love shall heeded be
Except I must be long interr’d ere she should hear of me
5
Those tiny drops of dew must die with the foremost streaks of morn
Nor may my life extend beyond one look of a gentler scorn
6
Life’s ecstasies are as prolonged as the twinkling of an eye
Passion’s embers are most ablaze the moment they must die
7
What else but death must rectify the agonies of Being
The candle must consume itself amid every gathering
