For word meanings and explanatory discussion in English click on the tabs marked “Roman” or “Notes”.
Recitation
حجاب کے انداز ۔ جوشؔ ملیح آبادی
۱
ساری دنیا ہے ایک پردۂ راز
اُف رے تیرے حجاب کے انداز
۲
موت کو اہلِ دل سمجھتے ہیں
زندگانیِ عشق کا آغاز
۳
مر کے پایا شہید کا رتبہ
میری اِس زندگی کی عمر دراز
۴
کوئی آیا تری جھلک دیکھی
کوئی بولا سنی تری آواز
۵
ہم سے کیا پوچھتے ہو ہم کیا ہیں
اک بیاباں میں گمشدہ آواز
۶
تیرے انوار سے لبالب ہے
دل کا سب سے عمیق گوشۂ راز
۷
آ رہی ہے صدائے ہاتفِ غیب
جوشؔ ہمتائے حافظِ شیراز
हिजाब के अंदाज़ – जोश मलीहाबादी
१
सारी दुनिया है एक पर्दा-ए राज़
उफ़ रे तेरे हिजाब के अंदाज़
२
मौत को अहल-ए दिल समझते हैं
ज़िंदगानी-ए इश्क़ का आग़ाज़
३
मर के पाया शहीद का रुत्बा
मेरी इस ज़िंदगी की उम्र दराज़
४
कोई आया तेरी झलक देखी
कोई बोला सुनी तेरी आवाज़
५
हम से क्या पूछते हो हम क्या हैं
एक बयाबाँ में गुम-शुदा आवाज़
६
तेरे अन्वार से लबालब है
दिल का सब से अमीक़ गोशा-ए राज़
७
आ रही है सदा-ए हातफ़-ए ग़ैब
जोश हमता-ए हाफ़ज़-ए शीराज़
Click here for background and on any passage for word meanings and explanatory discussion. josh malihabadi (1898-1982) is known as – shaa’er-e inqelaab – poet of revolution. His nazm are fiery, passionate and full of energy. His Ghazal and rubaaii are equally good. He was a secular humanist writing sharply and irreverently against colonialism, abuse of power, injustice and orthodoxy. This Ghazal is in the style of Ghalib’s ‘maiN huN apni shikast ki aavaaz’. There are two of josh in this style. They have a qaafiya but no radeef, just as Ghalib’s. josh writes of a very different theme.
1
saari duniya hai ek parda1-e raaz2
uf re tere hijaab3 ke andaaz4 1.veil, screen 2.secrets, mysteries 3.hiding 4.style, ways
The whole world, all of creation, puts a veil on the mysteries of divinity. O what (and how many) styles of hiding do you have. Alternatively, the whole world is a screen which reflects your mysteries. O how many mysterious ways there are in which your glory is reflected. With slight poetic license this can be applied to the various ways in which the beloved veils herself. daaGh dehlavi writes …
Khoob parda hai keh chilman se lage baiThe haiN
saaf chhupte bhi nahiN saamne aate bhi nahiN
2
maut ko ahl1-e dil samajhte haiN
zindagaani-e ishq2 kaa aaGhaaz3 1.people of 2.love 3.beginning
This can be interpreted in two exactly opposite ways – one, sufiyaana and the other cynical. In the first, ahl-e dil – people of love, are the sufis who do not lay much store by the material world. They aspire to ‘fanaa – annihilation – merger with the great spirit’. They think that the life of love – “real” life begins after death/fanaa. In the second, I am reminded of the visit that the first prime minister of Singapore, Lee Kuan Yew, made to pakistan. Singapore was considered to be the model of progress. Lee Kuan Yew was asked by reporters what advice he gave pakistan so that it could emulate the success of Singapore. He replied, ‘what advice can I give to someone who thinks that life begins after death’. Editorial comment – I belong to this grounded on earth school. My ‘second’ interpretation is heavily coloured by that bias.
3
mar ke paayaa shahiid1 kaa rutba2
meri is zindagi ki umr3 daraaz4 1.martyr 2.status 3.life, life-span 4.long
Again, there are two exactly opposite interpretations – one an admiring and another a cynical/sarcastic interpretation. In the first, he is admiring martyrdom and the high status it confers. That kind of life is long/eternal. In the second, the wish for ‘umr-daraaz – long life’ can be interpreted as sarcastic. Getting yourself killed confers eternal life – how can that be!
4
koi aayaa teri jhalak1 dekhi
koi bolaa suni teri aavaaz 1.glimpse
I choose to place before you two opposite interpretations. The straightforward one is that no one can understand divine mysteries. Some claim that they have seen a glimpse of you, others claim that they have heard your voice, but no one can fully understand you. The second one is more in line with what majaz writes in ‘Khwaab-e sahr’ …
ek na ek mazhab ki sa’ii-e Khaam bhi hoti rahi
ahl-e dil par baarish-e ilhaam bhi hoti rahi
i.e., there are many who claim that they have seen or heard divine messages but they don’t really know.
5
ham se kya poochhte ho ham kya haiN
ek bayaabaaN1 meN gum-shuda2 aavaaz 1.wilderness 2.lost, unheard
The ‘ham’ here could mean poets or rationalists. In either case, why do you ask what we are/what we have done. We are a lonely voice in the wilderness which nobody listens to.
6
tere anvaar1 se labaalab2 hai
dil ka sab se amiiq3 gosha4-e raaz5 1.rays of light, brilliance 2.overflowing 3.deep, treasured 4.corner 5.mysteries
This is the most unambiguous she’r refering ‘tere anvaar – divine brilliance’. josh claims that the deepest, most valuable corner of his heart is overflowing with divine glory.
7
aa rahi hai sadaa1-e haatif2-e Ghaib3
josh4 hamtaa5-e haafiz-e-shiraaz6 1.voice, call 2.oracle 3.unseen, unknown, mysterious 4.pen-name of poet 5.equal/peer of 6.celebrated faarsi shaa’er of shiraaz
Perhaps because his heart is overflowing with divine brilliance, josh hears a voice from the mysterious beyond that tells him that he is a peer of the celebrated sufi poet – haafiz shiraazi.
josh malihabadi (1898-1982) is known as – shaa’er-e inqelaab – poet of revolution. His nazm are fiery, passionate and full of energy. His Ghazal and rubaaii are equally good. He was a secular humanist writing sharply and irreverently against colonialism, abuse of power, injustice and orthodoxy. This Ghazal is in the style of Ghalib’s ‘maiN huN apni shikast ki aavaaz’. There are two of josh in this style. They have a qaafiya but no radeef, just as Ghalib’s. josh writes of a very different theme.
1
saari duniya hai ek parda1-e raaz2
uf re tere hijaab3 ke andaaz4
1.veil, screen 2.secrets, mysteries 3.hiding 4.style, ways
The whole world, all of creation, puts a veil on the mysteries of divinity. O what (and how many) styles of hiding do you have. Alternatively, the whole world is a screen which reflects your mysteries. O how many mysterious ways there are in which your glory is reflected. With slight poetic license this can be applied to the various ways in which the beloved veils herself. daaGh dehlavi writes …
Khoob parda hai keh chilman se lage baiThe haiN
saaf chhupte bhi nahiN saamne aate bhi nahiN
2
maut ko ahl1-e dil samajhte haiN
zindagaani-e ishq2 kaa aaGhaaz3
1.people of 2.love 3.beginning
This can be interpreted in two exactly opposite ways – one, sufiyaana and the other cynical. In the first, ahl-e dil – people of love, are the sufis who do not lay much store by the material world. They aspire to ‘fanaa – annihilation – merger with the great spirit’. They think that the life of love – “real” life begins after death/fanaa. In the second, I am reminded of the visit that the first prime minister of Singapore, Lee Kuan Yew, made to pakistan. Singapore was considered to be the model of progress. Lee Kuan Yew was asked by reporters what advice he gave pakistan so that it could emulate the success of Singapore. He replied, ‘what advice can I give to someone who thinks that life begins after death’. Editorial comment – I belong to this grounded on earth school. My ‘second’ interpretation is heavily coloured by that bias.
3
mar ke paayaa shahiid1 kaa rutba2
meri is zindagi ki umr3 daraaz4
1.martyr 2.status 3.life, life-span 4.long
Again, there are two exactly opposite interpretations – one an admiring and another a cynical/sarcastic interpretation. In the first, he is admiring martyrdom and the high status it confers. That kind of life is long/eternal. In the second, the wish for ‘umr-daraaz – long life’ can be interpreted as sarcastic. Getting yourself killed confers eternal life – how can that be!
4
koi aayaa teri jhalak1 dekhi
koi bolaa suni teri aavaaz
1.glimpse
I choose to place before you two opposite interpretations. The straightforward one is that no one can understand divine mysteries. Some claim that they have seen a glimpse of you, others claim that they have heard your voice, but no one can fully understand you. The second one is more in line with what majaz writes in ‘Khwaab-e sahr’ …
ek na ek mazhab ki sa’ii-e Khaam bhi hoti rahi
ahl-e dil par baarish-e ilhaam bhi hoti rahi
i.e., there are many who claim that they have seen or heard divine messages but they don’t really know.
5
ham se kya poochhte ho ham kya haiN
ek bayaabaaN1 meN gum-shuda2 aavaaz
1.wilderness 2.lost, unheard
The ‘ham’ here could mean poets or rationalists. In either case, why do you ask what we are/what we have done. We are a lonely voice in the wilderness which nobody listens to.
6
tere anvaar1 se labaalab2 hai
dil ka sab se amiiq3 gosha4-e raaz5
1.rays of light, brilliance 2.overflowing 3.deep, treasured 4.corner 5.mysteries
This is the most unambiguous she’r refering ‘tere anvaar – divine brilliance’. josh claims that the deepest, most valuable corner of his heart is overflowing with divine glory.
7
aa rahi hai sadaa1-e haatif2-e Ghaib3
josh4 hamtaa5-e haafiz-e-shiraaz6
1.voice, call 2.oracle 3.unseen, unknown, mysterious 4.pen-name of poet 5.equal/peer of 6.celebrated faarsi shaa’er of shiraaz
Perhaps because his heart is overflowing with divine brilliance, josh hears a voice from the mysterious beyond that tells him that he is a peer of the celebrated sufi poet – haafiz shiraazi.
