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. kalidas gupta raza dates this about 1838 when Ghalib was transitioning from faarsi to composing simpler urdu Ghazal. It is linked to ‘Ghalib naqsh-e qadam’ along with others composed by later shu’ara and by his contemporaries in the same radeef/qaafiya.
1
dhota huN jab maiN piin’e ko uss seem-tan¹ ke paaNv
rakhta hai zidd² se khaiNch ke baahar lagan³ ke paaNv    1.silver-bodied 2.obstinacy 3.wash basin
The poet/lover has gotten access to the beloved and wants to wash her feet in the wash basin and use that water for drinking. The beloved is obstinate and inistent that she is not going to let him have even such a lowly privelege and draws her feet away outside the wash basin.
2
dii saadagi¹ se jaan, paRuN kohkan² ke paaNv
haihaat³! kyuN nah TooT gaye piir-zan⁴ ke paaNv    1.simplicity, naivete 2.another name of farhaad 3.alas 4.old woman
This uses the legend of shiriN-farhaad. farhaad, a stone mason hired to work on Khusro’s palace fell in love shirin and she reciprocated his love. farhaad pestered Khusro to let him marry her. He agreed on one condition … that he dig a channel through the mountain be-sutoon and make a river of milk flow to the palace. The determined farhaad set about his task with a single pickaxe and was about to succeed when the frightened Khusro bribed an old woman to go tell farhaad that shirin had died. When farhaad got the news, being a simpleton, believed her and killed himself with his pickaxe. Thus, with what naivete did farhaad give up his life, I bow my head at his feet. Alas, why did the old woman’s feet not break before she got to farhaad.
3
bhaag’e th’e hum bahut, so usi ki saza¹ hai yeh
ho kar asiir² daabt’e haiN raahzan³ ke paaNv    1.punishment 2.captive 3.highway robber
I cannot make any sense of this beyond the literal meaning. I had run a lot and therefore this is the punishment for it. Presumably, he was running on the highway and was captured by the robber. I have become a captive and I have to press/massage the feet of the highway robber.
4
marham¹ ki justujuu² meN phira huN jo duur duur
tan³ se siva⁴ figaar⁵ haiN is Khasta-tan⁶ ke paaNv    1.ointment 2.search 3.body 4.more than, beyond 5.cut, injured 6.wounded body
This is probably somewhat like ‘from the frying pan into the fire’ kind of statement. His body was hurt and he searched far and wide for an ointment and in the process his feet got hurt even more than the original injury of the body.
5
allah-r’e¹ zauq²-e dasht-navardi³ keh baad-e marg⁴
hilt’e haiN Khud-ba-Khud⁵ mer’e andar kafan⁶ ke paaNv    1.by god 2.taste, desire 3.desert wandering 4.death 5.by themselves 6.burial shroud
The poet/lover has spent his life wandering the desert looking for his beloved just like majnuN of the laila-majnuN legend. His passion for ‘dasht-navardi’ was so intense that even after death, wrapped in a burial shroud, his feet continue to twitch. Beyond this literal translation, I do not know.
6
hai josh¹-e gul² bahaar³ meN yaaN tak keh har taraf
uRt’e hue ulajht’e⁴ haiN murGh⁵-e chaman ke paaNv    1.enthusiasm, passion 2.rose 3.spring 4.tangle 5.bird
It is spring and there are lots of blooms of roses. They shed petals and they are blowing in the wind all over the place. So many that they get tangled in the feet of birds that fly. I assume that he simply means to describe the beauty of spring with exaggerated imagery.
7
bechaara¹ kitni duur se aaya hai shaiKh jii
k’aab’e meN kyuN dabaa’eN² nah hum barhaman ke paaNv    1.poor fellow 2.press, massage
Ghalib expresses solidarity with the brahman. He not only gives him full access to the k’aaba but also suggests serving him by massaging his feet if he comes to the k’aaba.
8
shab¹ ko kisi k’e Khwaab meN aaya nah ho kahiiN
dukhte haiN aaj uss but²-e naazuk-badan³ ke paaNv    1.night 2.idol, beloved 3.delicate/fragile bodied
The ‘but’-idol is the beloved and she has a very delicate/fragile/sensitive body. The poet observes – ‘today her feet ache’ and speculates what the reason for this might be. One he can think of – she must have appeared in the rival’s dream. The implication is that she must have walked (in a dream, that the rival was dreaming) and her body is so delicate that the rival’s dream is enough to cause her feet to ache.
9
Ghalib mer’e kalaam¹ meN kyuNkar maza² nah ho
piita huN dho k’e Khusro³-e shiiriiN-suKhan⁴ ke paaNv    1.verse 2.pleasure, taste 3.amiir Khusro 4.sweet spoken
Ghalib pays tribute to amiir Khusro and his poetry – I wash the feet of the sweet spoken (writing/reciting sweet verse) Khusro and drink that water. Then, why should not my verse be tasteful.