Click here for background and on any passage for word meanings and explanatory discussion. momin KhaaN momin (1800-1852), was a hakim following the profession of his father and grandfather. momin received education in arabi, faarsi, urdu and in medicine, mathematics, and astrology – which must have involved some study of astronomy, which he uses in his compositions. momin composed unabashedly about romantic themes with much witticism on his taKhallus. I found quite a few Ghazal with the same radeef – aaKhir-e shab, from sauda to faiz. They are all linked to the appropriate icon under the page ‘radeef-refrain’.
1
gaye vo Khwaab¹ se uTh Ghair² ke ghar aaKhir-e-shab³
apne naale⁴ ne dikhaaya ye asar⁵ aaKhir-e shab    1.sleep 2.rival 3.end of the night 4.wailing, lamentation 5.effect
All of this is going on in the fevered imagination of the jealous poet/lover. He imagines that the beloved has spent the night at the rival’s and that she fell asleep, but his lamentation was so intense that it woke her up late at night, into the small hours near dawn.
2
sub’h-dam¹ vasl² ka vaa’da³ tha ye hasrat⁴ dekho
mar gaye ham dam⁵-e aaGhaaz⁶-e sahar⁷ aaKhir-e shab    1.time of morning, dawn 2.union, tryst, meeting 3.promise 4.longing, yearning (unfulfilled) 5.at the time of 6.at the beginning of 7.dawn
The beloved promised to come that night (technically running into dawn). The poet/lover has been eagerly waiting all night long. His (unfulfilled) yearning is so intense that just as dawn is about to emerge, he dies (but can still write about it). Ghalib on the other hand does not believe that the beloved would keep her promise …
tere v’aade par jiyeN hum, tu ye jaan jhooT jaana
keh Khushi se mar na jaate, agar e’tebaar hota
3
sho’la¹-e aah²-e falak-rutba³ ka e’jaaz⁴ to dekh
avval⁵-e maah⁶ meN chaaNd aaye nazar⁷ aaKhir-e shab    1.flame 2.sigh 3.status/height of the sky 4.miracle 5.first, beginning 6.month 7.seen, visible
The sigh of the poet/lover is like a flame because of the intensity of passion. The sigh is most intense towards of the end of the night. It also rises the the heights of the sky/heaven. Normally, the new moon is visible at sundown at the beginning of the month. But look at the miracle of his flaming sigh. When it reaches its height at the end of the night, people mistake it for the new moon.
4
soz¹-e dil se gayi jaaN², baKht³ chamakne ke qariib⁴
karte haiN mausam-e-garma⁵ meN safar⁶ aaKhir-e shab   1.sorrow, pain, fire 2.life 3.luck 4.near 5.season of heat i.e., summer 6.journey
It is conventional for people to begin their journey very early in the morning in summer, before heat builds up (it is unsafe to travel in the dark and the heat during the day can be unbearable). The beloved has promised to come and near dawn, the poet/lover is under the delusion that she is about to come and his luck is near ‘shining’. But just then, because of the intensity of his pain/sorrow, his life ‘departs’ on its journey to the next world. It is simply following the convention of starting travel in the wee hours of the night during summer (but the dead poet can still write about it). sauda has a similar different thought …
naalah sine se kare a’zm-e safar aaKhir-e shab
raahrau baandhe hai chalne pe kamar aaKhir-e shab
5
mile ho Ghair¹ se be-parda² tum inkaar³ ke ba’ad
jalva⁴ Khurshiid⁵ ka sa tha kuchh udhar aaKhir-e shab 1.rival 2.unveiled 3.denial 4.glory, brilliance 5.sun
The jealous poet/lover has accused the beloved of meeting with the rival, unveiled. She has denied it. But his jealous mind sees a brilliance like that of the sun from that direction and concludes that she has lifted the veil off her face.
6
sub’h-dam¹ aane ko tha vo keh gavaahi² de hai
raj’at-e-qahqari³-e charKh⁴-o qamar⁵ aaKhir-e shab    1.morning time, dawn 2.testimony 3.coming back, returning, astronomically applied to reversal in the relative position of planets compared to the background pattern of stars 4.sky 5.moon
Normally, only planets are considered to move backwards (sometimes) and stars are stationary. This is a visual aberration because the much nearer planets change position relative to the background of stars. Such reversal is normally not associated with the sky or the moon. The beloved has promised that she would come that night. The poet/lover’s fevered mind, waiting for her all night long, imagines that he sees a reversal in the movement of the sky and the moon back towards the beginning of the night because they saw (he believes) that the beloved was about to leave home, keeping her promise and they wanted to give her more time.
7
Ghair¹ niklaa tere ghar se gayi is vahm² meN jaan³
Ghul⁴ hue chor ke us kuuche⁵ meN gar⁶ aaKhir-e shab    1.rival 2.supposition, illusion 3.life 4.noise, disturbance 5.lane 6.if
The jealous poet/lover imagines all sorts of scenarios at the slightest pretext. When he hears noise/disturbance with shouts of ‘thief, thief’ coming from the beloved’s lane late at night, he does not believe that it is a thief, but that it is the rival leaving the beloved’s house near dawn.
8
dii tasallii¹ bhi to aisi keh tasallii na hui
Khwaab² meN to mere aaye vo magar aaKhir-e shab    1.consolation 2.dream
The beloved tried to console the poet/lover but this consolation was not enough, because even though she came to him in his dreams, but only late at night. There was not much time left before dawn and he woke up, therefore there was not enough consolation.
9
muu-safedii¹ ke qariib² aur hai Ghaflat³ momin⁴
niiNd aati hai ba-aaraam⁵-e digar⁶ aaKhir-e shab    1.white/grey hair 2.near 3.forgetfulness, ignoring, neglecting 4.pen-name of the poet, observant/orthodox person 5.with comfort 6.another, different
momin the poet is pulling up momin the orthodox person. The orthodox person is getting old and nearing the time when he will have grey hair. Generally people are supposed to get more religious and observant as they get older. But this momin appears to be neglecting his religious duties and sleeping comfortably past dawn, instead of waking up for prayers. His level of comfort (deep sleep) appears to be quite different from what it used to be.