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 is linked to ‘muddat hui hai yaar ko mehmaaN kiye hue’, Ghalib naqsh-e qadam, Theme Index page.
1
hashr¹ aur uss ke baad ka saamaaN² kiye huay
baiThay haiN dil ke daaGh³ farozaaN⁴ kiye huay   1.tumult, doomsday 2.arrangements 3.wounds 4.shine, brighten, set on fire
The poet/lover is ready for the day of judgement. He has made all the arrangements. The scars/wounds of his heart are on fire, they are lit up so that when judgement is passed this evidence will be clearly seen and the beloved held to account. As opposed to this shaiKh ibrahim zauq says …
ham nahiN vo jo kareN Khoon ka daa’va tujh par
balkeh poochhega Khuda bhi to mukar jaa’eNge
2
phir dil hai muntazir¹ kisi yusuf-jamaal² ka
aaNkhoN ko fart³-e shauq⁴ meN zindaaN⁵ kiye huay    1.waiting 2.beautiful like joseph 3.abundance, excess 4.desire 5.prison
In the legends of Abrahamic faiths, yusuf/Joseph was supposed to have been very beautiful. Thus, the heart is once again waiting for that special someone of legendary beauty. There is such an excess of desire that the eyes have become like a prison. What does this mean? Does it mean that he intends to capture the image of his beloved in his eyes as soon as he is able to see her? I am not sure.
3
nazzaara¹ hai umiid²-e tabassum³ meN gul⁴ ba-kaf⁵
dil ko fidaa⁶-e jumbish⁷-e mizshgaaN⁸ kiye huay    1.sight, eyes 2.hope 3.smile 4.rose 5.in hand 6.sacrificial offering 7.movement, fluttering 8.eyelashes
My eyes wait with rose in hand hoping to see the beloved smile, sacrificing the heart to the fluttering of her eyelashes.
4
phir qatl-gah¹ meN aa’e haiN kuchh mujrimaan²-e ishq
sar ko baland³ siine ko uryaaN⁴ kiye huay    1.slaughterhouse 2.accused, criminals 3.high 4.naked, bare, exposed
Once again, some who have been accused/convicted of the crime of love have been brought to the slaughterhouse. They hold their head up high and square their shoulders exposing their chest i.e., they show courage in the face of death. They are not remorseful or ashamed of their crime, in fact they are proud of it.
5
naaKhun¹ ba-dil firaaq² meN rahta huN roz-o-shab
siine ko chaak³ misl⁴-e garebaaN⁵ kiye huay     1.fingernail 2.separation from the beloved 3.tear, rip apart 4.like, in the example of 5.shirt-front, collar
In poetic convention the distressed lover tears his shirt-front and wanders like a madman looking for his beloved like the legendary majnuN. But the poet/lover goes a step further. He has ripped his bosom apart and digs into his heart with his fingernail, day and night, such is the intensity of pain of separation.
6
tadbiir¹ sochte rahay voh iltiyaam² ki
zaKhm³-e jigar⁴ peh saaya-e mizshgaaN⁵ kiye huay    1.method, formula 2.sooth, heal 3.wound 4.liver/heart 5.eyelashes
The beloved’s eyelashes are often portrayed as daggers with which she wounds the heart of the lover. Here it appears that they are also thick and cast a long shadow. Thus, the beloved is trying to figure out a way of soothing healing the wound in the heart of the lover while casting the shadow of her eyelashes on it. Keeping something under the shadow also implies protecting. Thus the beloved is both causing the wound and trying to heal it.
7
Khalvat¹ meN dil ki aaya ba-sad² Ghamza³ o ada⁴
ek mast⁵-e naaz⁶ parda-e-daamaaN⁷ kiye huay     1.privacy, intimate get-together 2.with a hundred 3.sidelong glance, amorous look, wink 4.style 5.intoxicated 6.pride, coquetry 7.hem of the garment as a veil
This is not an actual rendezvous but only in his heart. Thus, in the private chamber of my heart, she arrived with a titillating style and a hundred mischievous glances. The second misra describes who the ‘she’ is. She is one who is intoxicated with the power of her coquetry and as a part of her coquetry she uses the hem of her garment to veil her face. Recall that all this is happening in his heart/dream.
8
karta huN shar’h¹ apnay dil-e chaak-chaak² ki
taar³-e nafas⁴ ko taar³-e garebaaN⁵ kiye huay   1.explain, open, lay bare 2.shredded into threads 3.thread 4.breath 5.collar
In poetic convention the mad lover goes about with his collar torn to threads. The poet/lover does that but tells us that this is an explanation/interpretation of his shredded heart. The threads of his breath too are like the shreds of his collar.
9
sahra¹ nahiN hai koii hamaare mazaaq² ka
baiThay haiN apnay ghar ko biyabaaN³ kiye huay    1.desert, wilderness 2.taste, liking 3.desolation
Poetic convention is that mad/passionate lover wanders the desert like majnuN looking for his laila. But this poet/lover has not found any desert to his liking … perhaps the desert is not vast enough or does not enough thorns. So he sits in his house moping and crying, even as house becomes worse than desolation.
10
jaata huN nazr¹ denay usay dil ki aayeteN²
aaNkhoN ka noor³ ziinat⁴-e unvaaN⁵ kiye huay     1.devotional offering 2.sayings 3.light 4.embellishment 5.theme
The poet/lover is headed towards the beloved to make a devotional offering of the sayings of his heart. The theme of these sayings is of course undying love. He uses the light of his eyes to embellish this theme.
11
girdaab¹ meN balaa’oN² ke yaa chashm³-e KhooN-chakaaN⁴
pinhaaN⁵ har aek qatray⁶ meN toofaaN⁷ kiye huay    1.whirlpool 2.calamities 3.eye 4.blood dripping 5.hidden 6.drop 7.storm
The imagery is one of intense pain of separation from the beloved. He is either stuck in a whirlpool of calamities or in a river of tears of blood flowing from eyes. On top of that, each drop of blood carries a storm hidden in it.
12
saaqi ka muntazir¹ hai har ek rind²-e baada-Khwaar³
shab⁴ ko tuloo⁵-e mahr⁶ ka saamaaN⁷ kiye huay     1.waiting, anticipating 2.wine-lover 3.wine-drinker 4.night 5.rising, emergence 6.sun 7.means, provisions
Here ‘rind-e baada-Khwaar’ is the wine-loving and wine-drinking lover and the saaqi is the beloved. It may be actual wine being drunk to overcome sorrow or it could be symbolic wine of love. In either case every lover is waiting for the beloved. The night is dark, symbolic of the long night of waiting and or sorrow of separation. But this darkness/sorrow itself is the means by which lovers are waiting for the sun to rise i.e., for the beloved to emerge/come.
13
aaloodagi¹-e jaama-e-ahraam² dho gaii
palTay³ tavaaf⁴-e koocha⁵-e jaanaaN⁶ kiye huay     1.pollution, stains 2.cloth wrapped around the body during hajj 3.turn around 4.circumambulation 5.street 6.beloved
The poet/lover turns around/returns after performing circumambulation of the street of the beloved. This act is so sacred that it washes off the stains of his hajj wrapping. mir taqi mir on the other hand is willing to mortgage his hajj wrapping to buy some wine …
ham rahn-e baadah jaama-e ahraam kar chuke
masti ki dayr meN qasam aqsaam kar chuke
14
biknay chala hai ishq ke baazaar meN voh shooKh¹
ismat² ko apnay husn³ ka darbaaN⁴ kiye huay     1.mischievous, playful, beloved 2.chastity, modesty 3.beauty 4.doorkeeper, guard
The mischievous beloved has ventured into the bazaar of love, making chastity/modesty the guard of her beauty. This much appears to be straightforward … even though the beloved is playful, is out in the bazaar of love, yet she is guarded and dignified. But the ‘biknay chala’ – ventured out to be sold strikes a rather jarring note. I am not sure I understand it.
15
phir joshish¹-e nigaah² se ubhray³ haiN daaGh⁴-e ishq
daamaan⁵-e dil ko rashk⁶-e gulistaaN⁷ kiye huay     1.fervour, intense desire 2.eyes, sight 3.emerged 4.wounds, scars 5.hem of the garment 6.envy 7.garden
The wounds/scars of love on his wrapping of his heart emerge bleeding red in colour. This makes the wounds analogous to red roses. Thus the ‘valley of the heart’ i.e., the expanse of the heart, because of red wounds becomes the envy of the garden. Why do the wounds emerge – because of the intensity of desire to see the beloved.
16
pahuNchega¹ teray dar² peh asar³ ek din zaroor⁴
aabaadi⁵-e Khayaal⁶ ko viiraaN⁷ kiye huay     1.reach 2.door 3.pen-name of the poet 4.certainly 5.hustle bustle, activity, crowds 6.thought, imagination 7.desolate
It seems like as of this moment, the imagination/thinking of the poet is crowded with a lot of things. One of these days, this crowding will be gone, and his mind will become vacant like desolation. It is then that the poet will surely reach the door of the beloved. This seems to imply that the poet will shed his worldly concerns and concentrate only on thoughts of the beloved/god.