For word meanings and explanatory discussion in English click on the tabs marked “Roman” or “Notes”.
Recitation
چھپ کے نمایاں ہونا ۔ رگھوپتی سہائے فراقؔ گورکھپوری
۱
خود نما ہو کے نہاں ۔ چھپ کے نمایاں ہونا
الغرض حُسن کو رُسوا کسی عنواں ہونا
۲
کبھی صحرا کبھی گلشن کبھی زنداں ہونا
کبھی کونین کو میرا ہی گریباں ہونا
۳
یوں تو اکسیر ہے خاکِ درِ جاناں لیکن
کاوشِ غم سے اُسے گردِشِ دوراں ہونا
۴
حدّ تمکیں سے نہ باہر ہوئی خوددار نگاہ
آج تک آ نہ سکا حُسن کو حیراں ہونا
۵
چارہ گر درد سراپا ہوں مرے درد نہیں
باور آیا تجھے نشتر کا رگِ جاں ہونا
۶
مجھ سے بچنا ہی ترا ٹھیک ہے اے دامنِ دوست
میرے غم کو ہے فقط میرا گریباں ہونا
۷
اب تو مجھ کو بھی مرے درد کا احساس نہیں
مشکلِ عشق مبارک تجھے آساں ہونا
۸
اپنا انجام اگر عشق سمجھتا ہے تو پھر
حُسن کا کس لئے شرمندۂ اِحساں ہونا
۹
اب تو تنگ آ گئے اِس کشمکشِ پنہاں سے
دل کے شیرازہ کو آیا نہ پریشاں ہونا
۱۰
سازِ بے سوز سے دنیا نہیں بدلا کرتی
کارِ ہر نعرہ نہیں نعرۂ مستاں ہونا
۱۱
وحشتِ عشق کا بڑھنا تو عدم ہو جانا
سِمٹ آنا تو سرا پردۂ امکاں ہونا
۱۲
سر بسر برقِ فنا عشق کے جلوے ہیں فراقؔ
خانۂ دل کو نہ آباد نہ ویراں ہونا
छुप के नुमायां होना – रघुपती सहाय फ़िराक़ गोरखपूरी
१
ख़ुद-नुमा हो के नेहां – छुप के नुमायां होना
अलग़रज़ हुस्न को रुस्वा किसी उन्वां होना
२
कभी सहरा, कभी गुल्शन, कभी ज़िंदां होना
कभी कौनैन को मेरा ही गरेबां होना
३
यूं तो एक्सीर है ख़ाक-ए दर-ए जानां होना
काविश-ए ग़म से उसे गर्दिश-ए दौरां होना
४
हद्द-ए तम्कीं से न बाहर हुई ख़ुद-दार निगाह
आज तक आ न सका हुस्न को हैरां होना
५
चारागर दर्द-ए सरापा हूं मेरे दर्द नहीं
बावर आया तुझे नश्तर का रग-ए जां होना
६
मुझ से बचना हि तेरा ठीक है अए दामन-ए दोस्त
मेरे ग़म को है फ़क़त मेरा गरेबां होना
७
अब तो मुझ को भी मेरे दर्द का एहसास नहीं
मुश्किल-ए इश्क़ मुबारक तुझे आसां होना
८
अपना अंजाम अगर इश्क़ समझता है तो फिर
हुस्न का किस लिये शर्मिंदा-ए एहसां होना
९
अब तो तंग आ गये इस कश्मकश-ए पिन्हां से
दिल के शीराज़े को आया न परेशां होना
१०
साज़-ए बे-सोज़ से दुनिया नहीं बदला करती
कार-ए हर ना’रा नहीं ना’रा-ए मस्तां होना
११
वहशत-ए इश्क़ का बढ़ना तो अदम हो जाना
सिमट आना तो सरा-पर्दा-ए इम्कां होना
१२
सर-ब-सर बर्क़-ए फ़ना इश्क़ के जल्वे हैं फ़िराक़
ख़ाजा-ए दिल को न आबाद न वीरां होना
Click here for background and on any passage for word meanings and explanatory discussion. raghupati sahay firaq gorakhpuri (1896-1982) pre-eminent urdu shaa’er, scholar of farsi and sanskrit. Was nominated to Indian Civil Service but chose to participate in the freedom movement. After independence he chose an academic career, teaching English at Allahabad University. firaq composed four Ghazal (already posted on urdushahkar) in the style of mir taqi mir and five in the style of Ghalib. He composed one Ghazal specially for a dedicated ‘Ghalib Number’, Feb 1969 issue of ‘aaj kal’, a monthly magazine. There are at least three others in the same style in his collection ‘Ghazalistan’. This Ghazal is one of them. They are all dated 1943, so I have linked them to 1947-Ghlib’s birth +150 years. Also, firaq lifted many ash’aar from his earlier Ghazals and wove them into his 1969, Ghalib number publication. I have left them out to avoid duplication.
1
Khud-numa1 ho ke nehaaN2 – chhup ke numaayaaN3 hona
alGharaz4 husn5 ko rusva6 kisi unvaaN7 hona 1.showing oneself, appearing 2.hiding 3.manifest, coming out 4.after all, in any case 5.beauty, beloved 6.disgraced, scandalized 7.theme, subject, story
The beloved is either bashful or mischievous and teasing. Sometimes a glimpse of her may seem as if she is hiding. At other times, she appears as if she is hiding. Whatever the story, she is going to be scandalized in any case.
2
kabhi sahra1 kabhi gulshan kabhi zindaaN2 hona
kabhi kaunain3 ko mera hi garebaaN hona 1.desert 2.prison 3.two worlds, here and hereafter
Here ‘kaunain’ is used here to symbolise all cosmos. Sometimes it manifests itself as the desert or garden or a prison each symbolizing wandering in painful search, comfort and tranquility or confinement and suffocation. But at other times it (kaunain) wants to become garebaaN (passion) to the exclusion of all other forms of manifestation.
3
yuN to eksiir1 hai Khaak-e dar2-e jaanaaN3 hona
kaavish4-e Gham se use gardish-e-dauraaN5 hona 1.elixir, remedy 2.door, home, street 3.beloved 4.effort, search, seek 5.trials and tribulation of the times/of the people
This is a reflection on universal love vs love of the beloved. While the dust of the lane of the beloved is an elixir, but the search for (universal) love makes it/me more sensitive to the trials and tribulations of the times.
4
hadd1-e tamkiiN2 se na baahir hui Khud-daar3 nigaah4
aaj tak aa na saka husn5 ko hairaaN6 hona 1.limits 2.tranquility, self-control, even-tempered 3.dignified, self-respecting 4.sight, glance 5.beauty, beloved 6.surprise, showing appreciation
Because the beloved did not show any surprise/encouragement my glance stayed lowered, withing limits of self-control. This could also be turned around … because my glance remained lowered/within bounds of propriety the beloved never learnt to be surprised.
5
chaaragar1 dard-e saraapa2 huN mere dard nahiN
baavar3 aaya tujhe nashtar4 ka rag-e-jaaN5 hona 1.healer 2.head to toe, personified 3.understand, believe 4.knife 5.jugular vein
Normally, the knife slices the jugular vein. But in this case it is as if the (beloved’s) knife itself has become so desirable and pleasant that it is as important as the jugular vein. The lover does not feel any pain, because he is the personification of pain. So, now, the healer has come to understand/believe that he needs no cure.
6
mujh se bachna hi tera Theek hai aye daaman1-e dost2
mere Gham ko hai faqat3 mera garebaaN4 hona 1.hem (of the skirt of the beloved) 2.friend, beloved 3.only 4.collar
When a lover is distressed, he reaches out to hold the hem of the skirt of the beloved for support. In this case he disavows any such desire and says that it is all right for her to pull away and save the hem (not get any disrepute). The poet/lover in his pain will reach only for his own collar to tear it in distress.
7
ab to mujh ko bhi mere dard ka ehsaas1 nahiN
mushkil-e ishq mubaarak tujhe aasaaN hona 1.feeling, awareness
This combines Ghalib’s thoughts in “mushkileN itni paRhiiN mujh par ke aasaaN ho gaiiN” and “baskih dushvaar hai har kaam ka aasaaN hona”, and “dard ka had se guzarna hai dava ho jaana”. The poet congratulates himself that the difficulty of love has become easy for him so much so that he no longer feels/has grown numb to his pain.
8
apna anjaam1 agar ishq2 samajhta hai to phir
husn3 ka kis liye sharminda4-e ehsaaN5 hona 1.end result 2.love, lover 3.beauty, beloved 4.ashamed of 5.obligation
IF ishq/lover had understood its end result then it would not have placed itself under the obligation of the husn/beloved. OR … ishq/lover fully understands the end result and has walked into the pain of love under full knowledge. Thus it is responsible for its own destruction, just like the parvaana fully knowing its fate goes into the flame. Therefore, the beloved is not under any obligation is not responsible for the death of the lover just like the sham’a is not responsible for the burning of the parvaana.
9
ab to taNg aa gaye is kashmakash1-e pinhaaN2 se
dil ke shiiraaze3 ko aaya na pareshaaN4 hona 1.struggle 2.hidden 3.literally book-binding, arrangement, orderliness 4.scattered, disorder
The poet/lover has been hiding his pain (of love, so as not to malign the beloved’s reputation). He is tired of it. But he is so used to hiding his pain that his heart is still not disoriented, still not scattered. He is not running madly throught the desert like majnuN.
10
saaz1-e be-soz2 se duniya nahiN badla karti
kaar3-e har n’aara4 nahiN n’aara-e mastaaN5 hona 1.music, instrument 2.without fire (of passion) 3.work, effect, impact 4.cry, call 5.drunk (with the passion of love)
Nothing works without intense passion. The world cannot change with music that is played (or instruments/tools that are used) without passion. Every call become the passionate cry of the lover.
11
vahshat1-e ishq2 ka baRhna to adam3 ho jaana
simaT4 aana to sara-parda5-e imkaaN6 hona 1.frenzy, passion 2.love (of the divine) 3.non-existence 4.gather, shrink 5.main curtain of the tent, shelter 6.possibilities, material world
This she’r has a reflection of Ghalib’s thought it “ishrat-e qatra hai darya meN fana ho jaana” – fana is annihilation, going into ‘non-existence-adam’, merging of the aatma with parmaatma. Thus, if the frenzy of divine love increases then it goes into a state of non-existence or merger with the universal spirit. On the other hand, if it shrinks, remains within bounds, then shelters the material world of possibilities.
12
sar-ba-sar1 barq2-e fana3 ishq ke jalve4 haiN firaq
Khaana-e-dil5 ko na aabaad6 na viiraaN7 hona 1.end to end, embodiment 2.lightning 3.annihilation 4.manifestations 5.home of the heart 6.prosperous, inhabited 7.abandoned, vacant
Here “aabaad” and “viiraan” are worldly states, inextricably associated with the material world. The heart of the poet, his “Khaama-e dil” has no desire to be host to these material states. It wants to go beyond that, into non-existence. The manifestations of love are the embodiment of lightning flashes of annihilation. This brings to mind moosa’s desire to see a manifestation of god on mount tuur. All he got to see was a flash of lightning.
raghupati sahay firaq gorakhpuri (1896-1982) pre-eminent urdu shaa’er, scholar of farsi and sanskrit. Was nominated to Indian Civil Service but chose to participate in the freedom movement. After independence he chose an academic career, teaching English at Allahabad University. firaq composed four Ghazal (already posted on urdushahkar) in the style of mir taqi mir and five in the style of Ghalib. He composed one Ghazal specially for a dedicated ‘Ghalib Number’, Feb 1969 issue of ‘aaj kal’, a monthly magazine. There are at least three others in the same style in his collection ‘Ghazalistan’. This Ghazal is one of them. They are all dated 1943, so I have linked them to 1947-Ghlib’s birth +150 years. Also, firaq lifted many ash’aar from his earlier Ghazals and wove them into his 1969, Ghalib number publication. I have left them out to avoid duplication.
1
Khud-numa1 ho ke nehaaN2 – chhup ke numaayaaN3 hona
alGharaz4 husn5 ko rusva6 kisi unvaaN7 hona
1.showing oneself, appearing 2.hiding 3.manifest, coming out 4.after all, in any case 5.beauty, beloved 6.disgraced, scandalized 7.theme, subject, story
The beloved is either bashful or mischievous and teasing. Sometimes a glimpse of her may seem as if she is hiding. At other times, she appears as if she is hiding. Whatever the story, she is going to be scandalized in any case.
2
kabhi sahra1 kabhi gulshan kabhi zindaaN2 hona
kabhi kaunain3 ko mera hi garebaaN hona
1.desert 2.prison 3.two worlds, here and hereafter
Here ‘kaunain’ is used here to symbolise all cosmos. Sometimes it manifests itself as the desert or garden or a prison each symbolizing wandering in painful search, comfort and tranquility or confinement and suffocation. But at other times it (kaunain) wants to become garebaaN (passion) to the exclusion of all other forms of manifestation.
3
yuN to eksiir1 hai Khaak-e dar2-e jaanaaN3 hona
kaavish4-e Gham se use gardish-e-dauraaN5 hona
1.elixir, remedy 2.door, home, street 3.beloved 4.effort, search, seek 5.trials and tribulation of the times/of the people
This is a reflection on universal love vs love of the beloved. While the dust of the lane of the beloved is an elixir, but the search for (universal) love makes it/me more sensitive to the trials and tribulations of the times.
4
hadd1-e tamkiiN2 se na baahir hui Khud-daar3 nigaah4
aaj tak aa na saka husn5 ko hairaaN6 hona
1.limits 2.tranquility, self-control, even-tempered 3.dignified, self-respecting 4.sight, glance 5.beauty, beloved 6.surprise, showing appreciation
Because the beloved did not show any surprise/encouragement my glance stayed lowered, withing limits of self-control. This could also be turned around … because my glance remained lowered/within bounds of propriety the beloved never learnt to be surprised.
5
chaaragar1 dard-e saraapa2 huN mere dard nahiN
baavar3 aaya tujhe nashtar4 ka rag-e-jaaN5 hona
1.healer 2.head to toe, personified 3.understand, believe 4.knife 5.jugular vein
Normally, the knife slices the jugular vein. But in this case it is as if the (beloved’s) knife itself has become so desirable and pleasant that it is as important as the jugular vein. The lover does not feel any pain, because he is the personification of pain. So, now, the healer has come to understand/believe that he needs no cure.
6
mujh se bachna hi tera Theek hai aye daaman1-e dost2
mere Gham ko hai faqat3 mera garebaaN4 hona
1.hem (of the skirt of the beloved) 2.friend, beloved 3.only 4.collar
When a lover is distressed, he reaches out to hold the hem of the skirt of the beloved for support. In this case he disavows any such desire and says that it is all right for her to pull away and save the hem (not get any disrepute). The poet/lover in his pain will reach only for his own collar to tear it in distress.
7
ab to mujh ko bhi mere dard ka ehsaas1 nahiN
mushkil-e ishq mubaarak tujhe aasaaN hona
1.feeling, awareness
This combines Ghalib’s thoughts in “mushkileN itni paRhiiN mujh par ke aasaaN ho gaiiN” and “baskih dushvaar hai har kaam ka aasaaN hona”, and “dard ka had se guzarna hai dava ho jaana”. The poet congratulates himself that the difficulty of love has become easy for him so much so that he no longer feels/has grown numb to his pain.
8
apna anjaam1 agar ishq2 samajhta hai to phir
husn3 ka kis liye sharminda4-e ehsaaN5 hona
1.end result 2.love, lover 3.beauty, beloved 4.ashamed of 5.obligation
IF ishq/lover had understood its end result then it would not have placed itself under the obligation of the husn/beloved. OR … ishq/lover fully understands the end result and has walked into the pain of love under full knowledge. Thus it is responsible for its own destruction, just like the parvaana fully knowing its fate goes into the flame. Therefore, the beloved is not under any obligation is not responsible for the death of the lover just like the sham’a is not responsible for the burning of the parvaana.
9
ab to taNg aa gaye is kashmakash1-e pinhaaN2 se
dil ke shiiraaze3 ko aaya na pareshaaN4 hona
1.struggle 2.hidden 3.literally book-binding, arrangement, orderliness 4.scattered, disorder
The poet/lover has been hiding his pain (of love, so as not to malign the beloved’s reputation). He is tired of it. But he is so used to hiding his pain that his heart is still not disoriented, still not scattered. He is not running madly throught the desert like majnuN.
10
saaz1-e be-soz2 se duniya nahiN badla karti
kaar3-e har n’aara4 nahiN n’aara-e mastaaN5 hona
1.music, instrument 2.without fire (of passion) 3.work, effect, impact 4.cry, call 5.drunk (with the passion of love)
Nothing works without intense passion. The world cannot change with music that is played (or instruments/tools that are used) without passion. Every call become the passionate cry of the lover.
11
vahshat1-e ishq2 ka baRhna to adam3 ho jaana
simaT4 aana to sara-parda5-e imkaaN6 hona
1.frenzy, passion 2.love (of the divine) 3.non-existence 4.gather, shrink 5.main curtain of the tent, shelter 6.possibilities, material world
This she’r has a reflection of Ghalib’s thought it “ishrat-e qatra hai darya meN fana ho jaana” – fana is annihilation, going into ‘non-existence-adam’, merging of the aatma with parmaatma. Thus, if the frenzy of divine love increases then it goes into a state of non-existence or merger with the universal spirit. On the other hand, if it shrinks, remains within bounds, then shelters the material world of possibilities.
12
sar-ba-sar1 barq2-e fana3 ishq ke jalve4 haiN firaq
Khaana-e-dil5 ko na aabaad6 na viiraaN7 hona
1.end to end, embodiment 2.lightning 3.annihilation 4.manifestations 5.home of the heart 6.prosperous, inhabited 7.abandoned, vacant
Here “aabaad” and “viiraan” are worldly states, inextricably associated with the material world. The heart of the poet, his “Khaama-e dil” has no desire to be host to these material states. It wants to go beyond that, into non-existence. The manifestations of love are the embodiment of lightning flashes of annihilation. This brings to mind moosa’s desire to see a manifestation of god on mount tuur. All he got to see was a flash of lightning.
