Click here for background and on any passage for word meanings and explanatory discussion. mohammed husain qamar jalaalavi (1887-1968), was born in jalaali, near aligaRh, moved to pakistan after partition/independence. He was popularly known as ‘ustad’, for his expertise in repairing bicycles, which is how he earned his living and lived in penury, in spite of his excellence as a poet. He wrote Ghazal is chaste classical style, many of which have been put to music.
1
haTi zulf¹ un ke chehre² se magar aahista aahista
ayaaN³ sooraj huaa vaqt-e sahar⁴ aahista aahista     1.hair 2.face 3.emerge 4.dawn
The beloved’s face is hidden behind her long hair. She moves her hair away from the face, but gradually. It is like the sun emerging slowly through the clouds at dawn.
2
chaTak¹ kar di sadaa² Ghunche³ ne shaaKh-e gul⁴ ki jumbish⁵ par
ye gulshan⁶ hai zaraa baad⁷-e sahar⁸ aahista aahista    1.clicking sound 2.call, voice 3.unopened flower 4.rose – used here to mean rose bush 5.movement 6.garden 7.breeze 8.dawn
The convention in urdur shaa’eri is that the morning breeze blows gently and wakes up unopened flowers and coaxes them to bloom. As it blooms the petals unfurl and make a gentle clicking sound. That sound, says the poet, is the bud calling out to the breeze to blow gently, because it has felt the movement of the branch to be a little rough. It is telling the breeze to be gentle because this is, after all, a garden.
3
qafas¹ meN dekh kar baazu² asiir³ aapas⁴ meN kahte haiN
bahaar-e-gul⁵ tak aa jaa’eNge par aahista aahista   1.cage 2.arms, sides 3.prisoners, caged birds 4.among themselves 5.season of flowers, spring
The convention of shaa’eri is that the bird catcher catches birds, clips their wings and puts them in a cage. This is a group of such caged birds who look at the clipped wings at their sides and say to each other, by spring time, our feathers/wings will grow back yearning for free flight.
4
koi chhup jaa’egaa bimaar¹-e shaam²-e hijr³ kaa marnaa
pahuNch jaa’egi un tak bhi Khabar⁴ aahista aahista     1.sick (with sorrow of unrequited love), poet/lover 2.night of 3.separation (from the beloved) 4.news
How can you hide the death of the poet/lover suffering of unrequited love during the night of separation. The news will reach the beloved over time.
5
Gham¹-e tabdili²-e gulshan³ kahaaN tak phir ye gulshan hai
qafas⁴ bhi ho to ban jaataa hai ghar aahista aahista    1.sorrow 2.change 3.garden, homeland 4.cage
qamar jalaalavi had migrated to pakistan was known not to have been happy there. This is a she’r from another Ghazal …
yahaaN taNgi-e qafas hai, vahaaN fikr-e aashiyaana
na yahaaN mera Thikaana, na vahaaN mera Thikaana
Here he says – how long will you feel sorrowful about the changed of garden (homeland). This is now your home. Even if you are caged, eventually it begins to feel like home.
6
hamaare baaGhbaaN¹ ne kah diyaa gulchiN² ke shikve³ par
naye ashjaar⁴ bhi deNge samar⁵ aahista aahista     1.gardener 2.flower picker 3.complaint 4.trees 5.fruit
This is probably a dig at political leaders represented here by ‘baaGhbaaN’, the gardener. In urdu shaa’eri the flower picker picks flowers leaving the bulbul sad, longing for love. The bulbul (poet) complains to the gardener about this cruelty of the flower-picker and receives a flippant answer – there will be new bushes and they will bear new (fruit) flowers!
7
ilaahi¹ kaun saa vaqt aa gayaa bimaar²-e furqat³ par
keh uTh kar chal diye sab chaara-gar⁴ aahista aahista     1.god 2.sick (of disappointment in love) 3.separation (from the beloved) 4.healers
The poet/lover has been pining away in separation from the beloved. He is on his death bed and has had a number of healers trying to revive him. But now it looks like he is on his last breath (what kind of a time has descended on him). Giving up hope all the healers are leaving one by one.
8
na jaane kyuN na aayaa varna¹ ab tak kab ka aa jaataa
agar² chaltaa vahaaN se naama-bar³ aahista aahista     1.otherwise 2.if 3.messenger
The poet/lover has dispatched a messenger to the beloved with his supplication. He is now waiting impatiently for him bring back an answer. I don’t know why has not returned, otherwise he should have been here by now (even) if he were to walk back slowly.
9
Khafaa¹ bhi haiN iraada² bhi hai shaa’ed³ baat karne kaa
vo chal nikle haiN mujh ko dekh kar aahista aahista     1.annoyed 2.intention 3.perhaps
The poet/lover sees the beloved walking towards him. He is both hopeful and fearful. She looks annoyed, but it also looks like she is intending to talk to him. She has seen him and is walking towards him slowly.
10
javaani aa gaii dil chhedne¹ ki baRh gaiiN mashqeN²
chalaanaa aa gayaa tiir-e nazar³ aahista aahista     1.drill through, pierce 2.practice, art, skill 3.glance
The beloved has grown into a young woman and has learnt the skill of piercing the poet/lover’s heart with the arrow of her glances.
11
jise ab dekh kar ek jaan paRti hai mohabbat meN
yahi ban jaa’egi qaatil¹ nazar² aahista aahista     1.killer 2.glances
Now, when she glances at you, your love gets a new life. Just wait, this same glance will gradually become your killer.
12
abhi tak yaad hai kal ki shab¹-e Gham² aur tanhaaii³
phir is par chaaNd kaa Dhalnaa⁴ qamar⁵ aahista aahista     1.night of 2.sorrow 3.loneliness 4.setting 5.pen-name of poet also full moon
There is a lovely play of words here. The poet/lover has spent a long and sorrowful night of loneliness/separation. On top of that, he remembers the setting moon i.e. the night passed without her arrival and day dawned. Witnessing all this is the poet/lover, qamar. But his name itself means ‘full moon’. Thus the full moon is watching the setting moon!