Click here for background and on any passage for word meanings and explanatory discussion. gopal mittal (1901-1993), maaler koTla, punjab. College in lahore. Later, lived in dehli as a poet, writer and editor of literary magazine. His usual style is to write intellectual, agnostic and irreverant Ghazal/nazam. This is a sarcastic criticism of exaggerated romanticism in urdu poetry, as well as of conventional belief systems.
1
raNgini-e havas¹ ka vafa² naam rakh diya
Khud-daari³-e vafa ka jafa⁴ naam rakh diya     1.lust, desire 2.love, steadfast, unwavering 3.self-reliance, restraint 4.torture, cruelty
In a criticism of poetic conventions, he says that poets have elevated colourful lust to unwavering love. On the other side, the beloved, who may be restrained/reserved in order to have the chance to make her own decision is depicted as a cruel torturer.
2
insaan ki jo baat samajh meN na aa saki
insaaN ne us ka haq¹ ki raza² naam rakh diya     1.truth, god 2.will, purpose
When humans could not understand something (maybe a natural disaster or a pestilence), they called it the “will of god”.
3
Khud-GharziyoN¹ ke saaye² meN paati hai parvarish³
ulfat⁴ ke jis ka sidq⁵ o safa⁶ naam rakh diya   1.selfishness 2.shade, shadow 3.nurture 4.love 5.sincerity 6.purity
Love is nurtured/cultivated in the shadow of selfishness i.e. it is really selfishness portrayed as love. But poetic convention calls it sincerity and purity.
4
be-mehri¹-e habib² ka mushkil tha e’teraaf³
yaaroN⁴ ne us ka naaz⁵ o ada⁶ naam rakh diya     1.unkindness, disinterestedness 2.beloved 3.confession, admission 4.friends 5.pride, aloof style 6.coquetry, playful teasing
The beloved was not interested. Did not want to return their love. They could not face the truth, could not admit that this was their failure. So they called it her aloof style, her playful teasing to decieve themselves.
5
fitrat¹ meN aadmi ki hai mub’ham² sa ek Khauf³
us Khauf ka kisi ne Khuda naam rakh diya   1.nature, character 2.vague, doubtful 3.fear
In the nature of humans there is a vague fear. Someone decided to call this fear, ‘god’.
6
ye ruuh¹ kya hai jism² ka aks³-e latiif⁴ hai
ye aur baat hai ke juda⁵ naam rakh diya     1.soul 2.body 3.reflection 4.subtle, gentle, cultured
What is this soul, except a subtle and fine reflection of the body. It is another matter that they have given it a separate name.
7
muflis¹ ko ahl-e-zar² ne bhi kya kya diye fareb³
apni jafa⁴ ka hukm⁵-e Khuda naam rakh diya     1.pauper 1.people of wealth, capitalists 3.deception 4.cruelty, injustice 5.command
How many times does the capitalist hoodwink the pauper. Hiding his own injustice/cruelty he calls it the commandment of god, god’s will.