Click here for background and on any passage for word meanings and explanatory discussion. bharatendu harishchandra (1850-1885) was a prolific writer, poet, journalist and political activist. He was a scholar of urdu, farsi and sanskrit using ‘rasa’ as his taKhallus for classical urdu and ‘harichand’ for emerging hindi compositions. He even wrote articles on hindu law in urdu. But later he participated in and contributed greatly to the ‘hindi-urdu divide’. His personal life too was given to drinking and debauchery leading to an early death.
1
rahe na ek bhi bedaad-gar¹ sitam² baaqi
ruke na haath abhi tak hai dam meN dam baaqi³        1.oppressor 2.oppression, cruelty 3.remaining
The beloved is the oppressor. The poet/lover beseeches her, let not any cruelty remain unused. Do not hold your hand, as long as there is any life left (of course he means any life left in me – the lover). urdu poetic tradition values the cruelty of the beloved as a favour she is doing to the lover.
2
uThaa dui¹ ka jo parda hamaari aaNkhoN se
to kaabe meN bhi raha bas vahi sanam² baaqi     1.duality 2.beloved, god, idol
There is a nice play of words here. In islamic tradition, there is no duality … there is only one god. Hindu tradition accepts more than one. In this case the poet (a believing/practising Hindu) says that the veil of duality was removed from his eyes i.e. he accepted the one-ness of god. When this happened then in the kaaba he saw the same beloved/god/image/idol. Is he saying that the beloved is god, that the god of the kaaba is the same as the idol in the temple? He leaves us with tantalizing questions.
This she’r is very popular and wrongly attributed to Ghalib and at other times to bahadur shah zafar …
Khuda ke vaaste zaahid uTha parda na kaabe ka
kahiN aisa na ho yaaN bhi vahi kaafir-sanam nikle
3
bulaa lo baaliN¹ pe hasrat² na dil meN mere rahe
abhi talak to hai tan meN hamaare dam³ baaqi   1.head side of the bed or the tomb 2.desire 3.breath, life
The poet/lover is on his death bed, on his last breath. He wants the beloved to come and be at his head-side (that is the tradition on visiting the sick or the dying) while he still has some life left, so that his desire may be fulfilled.
4
lahad¹ pe aayeNge aur phuul bhi uThaayeNge
ye raNj hai ke na us vaqt hoNge ham baaqi   1.grave
She will come to my grave and might even carry flowers. The sad part is that I will not be around then. The implication is that she is so delicate that walking is a burden to her and on top of it she will be carrying flowers. Alas, I will not be around to help her.
5
ye chaar din ke tamaashe¹ haiN aah duniya ke
raha jahaaN meN sikandar² na aur na jam³ baaqi   1.games, spectacle 2.Alexander 3.jamshed, a famous Persian emperor
This (life on earth) is only a ‘four-day’ game. Neither Alexander nor jamshed are around (in spite of their many conquests).
6
tum aao taar¹ se marqad² pe ham qadam³ choomeN
faqat⁴ yahi hai tamannaa⁵ teri qasam, baaqi   1.darkness, hiding 2.grave 3.feet 4.only 5.desire
Come out of hiding, come to my grave so I may kiss your feet. This is the only desire I have left, I swear by you. This could be addressed to the beloved or to god. It is noteworthy that the poet/lover/devotee’s Hindu faith does not prevent him from using islamic imagery of ‘grave’.
7
rasaa¹ ye raNj uThaayaa firaaq² meN tere
rahe jahaaN meN na aaKhir³ ko aah ham baaqi    1.pen name of the poet 2.separation 3.last, at last
rasaa has borne such sorrow in separation from you that alas, at last he no longer remains alive in this world.