dasht-e tanhaaii – faiz

یاد ۔ فیض احمد فیض

 

دشتِ تنہائی میں ائے جانِ جہاں لرزاں ہیں

تیری آواز کے سائے، تیرے ہونٹوں کے سراب

دشتِ تنہائی میں دوری کے خس و خاک تلے

کِھل رہے ہیں تیرے پہلو کے سمن اور گلاب

اُٹھ رہی ہے کہیں قربت سے تیری سانس کی آنچ

اپنی خوشبو میں سلگتی ہوئی مدھم مدھم

 

دور ۔ اُفق پار، چمکتی ہوئی قطرہ قطرہ

گر رہی ہے کسی دِلدار نظر کی شبنم

اِس قدر پیار سے ائے جانِ جہاں رکھا ہے

دِل کے رُخسار پہ اِس وقت تیری یاد نے ہات

یوں گماں ہوتا ہے، گر چہ ہے ابھی صبح فراق

ڈھل گیا ہجر کا دِن، آ  بھی گئی وصل کی رات

याद – फ़ैज़ अहमद फ़ैज़

 

दश्त ए तनहाई में अए जान ए जहाँ लरज़ाँ हैं

तेरी आवाज़ के साए तेरे होंटों के सराब

दश्त ए तनहाई में दूरी के ख़स ओ ख़ाक तले

खिल रहे हैं तेरे पहलू के समन और गुलाब

उठ रही है कहीं क़ुर्बत से तेरी सांस की आंच

अपनी ख़ुश्बू से सुलगती हुई मद्धम मद्धम

 

दूर – उफ़क़ पार, चमकती हुई क़तरा क़तरा

गिर रही है किसी दिलदार नज़र की शबनम

इस क़दर प्यार से अए जान ए जहाँ रखा है

दिल के रुख़सार पे इस वक़्त तेरी याद ने हात

यूं गुमां होता है, गर चे है अभी सुबह फ़िराक़

ढल गया हिज्र का दिन, आ भी गई वस्ल की रात

dasht-e tanhaaii – faiz ahmed faiz

Click here for overall comments and on any passage for meanings and discussion.  From “dast e saba”, a collection of nazm and Ghazal published while faiz was in Central Jail, Hyderbad, Sindh. Presumably, this selection too was written from prison making it all the more poignant.It remains an enigma, who the beloved is, in whose memory faiz is writing this. He has often used the beloved as a stand-in for country/society.It is interesting that maKhdoom too was jailed in Central Jail, Hyderabad (Telangana) and wrote about his incarceration. See “qaid” under maKhdoom.

dasht e tanhaai1 meN ae jaan e jahaaN larzaaN2 haiN
teri aavaaz ke saa’e3 tere hoNtoN ke saraab4
dasht e tanhaai meN doori ke Khas o Khaak5 tale`
khil rahe haiN tere pahloo6 ke saman7 aur gulab
uTh rahi hai kahiN qurbat8 se teri saaNs ki aaNch
apni Khushboo se sulagti hui maddham maddham
1.wilderness of solitude 2.shimmering 3.shadows, images 4.mirage 5.dry brush, straw and dust 6.side (polite for bosom) 7.jasmine 8.near by
In the “wilderness/banishment of solitude” (probably written during solitary confinement, which had a big impact on faiz), O my beloved, I see shimmering and tremulous, the shadows of your voice, the mirage of your lips. There is beauty in the treatment of “sound as sight” as in “aavaaz ke saa’e”. “saa’e” can also be image/illusion. In my arid solitude, there under the brush and the dust, I see you bloom like the jasmine and the rose and somewhere close to me I feel the warmth of your breath, stirring up the scent that is you, subtly, softly.

duur – ufaq paar9, chamakti hui qatra qatra
gir rahi hai kisi dildaar nazar10 ki shabnam11
is qadar12 pyaar se ae jaan e jahaaN rakha hai
dil ke ruKhsaar13 pe is vaqt teri yaad ne haat
yuN gumaaN14 hota hai, gar che15 hai abhi subah firaaq16
Dhal gaya hijr17 ka din, aa bhi gaii vasl18 ki raat
9.beyond the horizon 10.heart pleasing sight/image 11.dew, mist 12.much 13.cheek 14.suspicion 15.even though 16.morning of separation 17.being away, banishment 18.union (with the beloved)
Far away, beyond the horizon, drop by sparkling drop, the dew shimmers like your beloved form. Alternatively, dildaar nazar could be interpreted to be the lovely eyes of the beloved. In that case, the shimmering drops of mist beyond the horizon are the tears of beloved, adding to the loneliness of the poert/lover.With what tenderness is placed, O love of my life, the hand of your memory on the contours of my heart, that even in this separation I have this sense, that our separation is over, we will now meet at last. To touch/caress (especially) the cheek is an act of love. The hand of the memory of the beloved has caressed the “cheek of the heart”.

dasht-e tanhaaii – faiz ahmed faiz

From “dast e saba”, a collection of nazm and Ghazal published while faiz was in Central Jail, Hyderbad, Sindh. Presumably, this selection too was written from prison making it all the more poignant.It remains an enigma, who the beloved is, in whose memory faiz is writing this. He has often used the beloved as a stand-in for country/society.It is interesting that maKhdoom too was jailed in Central Jail, Hyderabad (Telangana) and wrote about his incarceration. See “qaid” under maKhdoom.

dasht e tanhaai1 meN ae jaan e jahaaN larzaaN2 haiN
teri aavaaz ke saa’e3 tere hoNtoN ke saraab4
dasht e tanhaai meN doori ke Khas o Khaak5 tale`
khil rahe haiN tere pahloo6 ke saman7 aur gulab
uTh rahi hai kahiN qurbat8 se teri saaNs ki aaNch
apni Khushboo se sulagti hui maddham maddham

1.wilderness of solitude 2.shimmering 3.shadows, images 4.mirage 5.dry brush, straw and dust 6.side (polite for bosom) 7.jasmine 8.near by

In the “wilderness/banishment of solitude” (probably written during solitary confinement, which had a big impact on faiz), O my beloved, I see shimmering and tremulous, the shadows of your voice, the mirage of your lips. There is beauty in the treatment of “sound as sight” as in “aavaaz ke saa’e”. “saa’e” can also be image/illusion. In my arid solitude, there under the brush and the dust, I see you bloom like the jasmine and the rose and somewhere close to me I feel the warmth of your breath, stirring up the scent that is you, subtly, softly.

duur – ufaq paar9, chamakti hui qatra qatra
gir rahi hai kisi dildaar nazar10 ki shabnam11
is qadar12 pyaar se ae jaan e jahaaN rakha hai
dil ke ruKhsaar13 pe is vaqt teri yaad ne haat
yuN gumaaN14 hota hai, gar che15 hai abhi subah firaaq16
Dhal gaya hijr17 ka din, aa bhi gaii vasl18 ki raat

9.beyond the horizon 10.heart pleasing sight/image 11.dew, mist 12.much 13.cheek 14.suspicion 15.even though 16.morning of separation 17.being away, banishment 18.union (with the beloved)
Far away, beyond the horizon, drop by sparkling drop, the dew shimmers like your beloved form. Alternatively, dildaar nazar could be interpreted to be the lovely eyes of the beloved. In that case, the shimmering drops of mist beyond the horizon are the tears of beloved, adding to the loneliness of the poert/lover.With what tenderness is placed, O love of my life, the hand of your memory on the contours of my heart, that even in this separation I have this sense, that our separation is over, we will now meet at last. To touch/caress (especially) the cheek is an act of love. The hand of the memory of the beloved has caressed the “cheek of the heart”.