Click here for background and on any passage for word meanings and explanatory discussion. mirza jaafar ali KhaaN asar lakhnavi (1885-1967). Classical education at home until the age of 11, then formal schooling and college to BA. Indulged in MA and LLB but did not finish. Served in the British government as Deputy Collector (1909), Executive Officer and Collector until 1940. Resigned from service. Several collections of his Ghazal and nazm including descriptions of nature in kashmir where he served in the cabinet and also as acting prime minister (until 1945) to the maharaja. He also did a versified translation of the bhagwad-giita. This Ghazal, modeled after Ghalib’s ‘naqsh faryaadi hai kis ki shooKhi-e tahriir ka’, is linked to Ghalib naqsh-e qadam.
1
naqsh¹ ubhra is qadar² r’aana³ teri tasviir ka
shuGh’l⁴ hai laGhzish⁵-nigaari⁶ kaatib⁷-e taqdiir⁸ ka 1.image, form 2.extent, so much 3.charming, graceful 4.pasttime, occupation 5.error, slip 6.portrayal, sketching 7.scribe 8.destiny
The image of the beloved that has emerged is so beautiful and graceful that it causes laGhzish/stumbling among her admirers/lovers as if it is written into their fate as a necessary corollary of the grace of her image. Thus, it seems that the pasttime of the ‘kaatib-e taqdiir’- writer/author of fate is to create sketches of stumbling/laGhzish.
2
kaar-farma¹ kya karuN likkha meri taqdiir² ka
ek na ek pahlu³ nikalta⁴ hi raha tadbiir⁵ ka    1.one in charge, ruler 2.destiny 3.aspect, side 4.emerges 5.planning, strategy
The poet is addressing god or whoever it is who has written his fate. He says, whatever I plan/strategize some new aspect of my strategy emerges. I think the implication is that this is an unexpected and difficult aspect of the strategy. Thus, the complaint that he does not seem to be able to do anything about what is written in his fate.
3
iss se behtar¹ tha taGhaaful² o karam-na-aashna³
dard-mandoN⁴ se gila⁵ be-rabti⁶-e taqriir⁷ ka    1.better 2.indifference, neglect 3.unfamiliar with kindness/grace, beloved 4.grief stricken 5.complaint 6.incoherence 7.speech, expression
It would have been better to remain indifferent, O unkind one, than to complain about incoherence to those already in pain. The beloved is characterized as unfamiliar with kindness. In urdu poetic tradition, she is always cruel to her admirers. The poet/lover may have appealed to her and presented his love. She chastizes him that his words are incoherent. It would have been much better if she had simply taken her usual position – indifference. This accusation of incoherence is insult added to injury.
4
maiN ne maana partav¹-e husn²-e haqiiqat³ hai majaaz⁴
raNg⁵ se Khaali hai laikin aaina tasviir ka      1.reflection, shadow, image 2.beauty 3.reality, divine 4.illusion 5.color, life, qualities
I accept that the reflection of true beauty is an illusion, yet the mirror of this portrait remains lifeless. ‘husn-e haqiiqat’ – beauty/glory of reality is the glory of the divine. This world/cosmos is but a reflection of that beauty. The poet/sufi agrees with that but qualifies it by saying that this illusion of reality is devoid of any colour/qualities of the divine.
5
jaisi bhi chaahe qasam¹ le le jo kuch samjha huN maiN
lazzatoN² meN gum³ hua matlab⁴ teri taqriir⁵ ka     1.oath, vow 2.pleasures, joys 3.lost 4.meaning 5.speech, discourse
Make me swear by anything you like, if I understood any of your words. The meaning was completely lost in the pleasure of listening to you. The poet/lover is so stricken with her charming way of talking that he cannot get past the pleasure of enjoying listening to the beloved. He is so immersed in this pleasure that he cannot to the meaning.