Click here for background and on any passage for word meanings and explanatory discussion. daaGh dehlavi (1831-1905), grandson of bahadur shah zafar. After 1857, he had to move to rampur and later to hyderabad, where he died. His Ghazal are more earthy and romantic than sufiyaana or philosophical. He was a disciple of zauq, whose rivalry with/jealousy of Ghalib is well known. But daaGh had good relations with Ghalib and composed several Ghazal in the bahr of Ghalib, using many of the same phrases. This is one of them.
1
khoyaa gayaa huN de ke pataa¹ naamabar² ko maiN
apni Khabar³ ko jaauuN ilaahi⁴ kidhar ko maiN    1.address 2.messenger 3.news, awareness, identity 4.my god
The phrase ‘khoyaa gayaa’ implies that someone has deliberately misplaced/lost the address/identity of the protagonist. This might mean that the poet/lover with his message has also sent his address to the beloved, but since she has not responded, he concludes that she has misplaced his address and follows this up with a plea – my lord where should I go to find myself. At the romantic level, this could be about the beloved. At a mystical level this could be a search for his own identity.
2
mujh ko tabaah¹ chashm²-e muravvat³ ne kar diyaa
mil jaa’e to churaauuN⁴ kisi ki nazar⁵ ko maiN    1.destroy, ruin 2.eyes, glance 3.kind, compassionate 4.steal 5.glance
The beloved cast one kind/loving glance at the poet/lover and he was ruined forever. Ever since then he has been looking for a similar chance; if I ever get a chance, I will ‘steal a glance’, he says. ‘Stealing a glance’ can mean ‘catch a glimpse’ or get the beloved to cast a glance at him, to recognize him. There is a tone of betrayal; he has been hooked and left hanging.
3
bas¹ jaao kyaa karoge nazar² se jigar³ meN chhed⁴
lo aao tum udhar ko, KhaRaa huN idhar ko maiN    1.enough, stop 2.glance 3.liver/heart 4.hole
The beloved’s glance drills through the liver/heart of the poet/lover. Here he seems to be challenging the beloved … enough/stop what more can your glance do; how can it drill through my liver/heart; all right, come on, you are standing over there and I here, try your glance and see. It is implied that his liver/heart has already been shredded with previous glances; there is nothing left to drill through.
4
Khaamosh¹ ab to shikva²-e hamsaaya³ ne kiyaa
phir to hai aah⁴-e niim-shabi⁵ aur sahar⁶ ko maiN    1.silent 2.complaint 3.neighbours 4.sigh 5.midnight 6.late night just before dawn
The poet/lover used to wail and cry loudly and incessantly. His neighbours complained and protested. Their complaints have silenced him. All that is left for him are deep unobtrusive sighs of midnight to the early hours of late night/dawn. He has accepted his fate and suffers silently.
5
jaa kar dar¹-e qubuul² pe chhiRki³ ga’ii duaa
sad-shukr⁴ jaa ke aap na laayaa asar⁵ ko maiN     1.door of 2.acceptance 3.sprinkle 4.hundred thanks 5.effect, fulfillment
The poet/lover has been to the ‘door of acceptance’ and ‘sprinkled’ his prayers on it. He offers a ‘hundred thanks’ that he has not brought back any ‘effect’ of his prayers. Why is the poet/lover expressing thanks for unfulfilled prayers. This could be a form of sarcasm or it could be that he has gotten so used to his state of hopelessness that he would have been lost if his prayers had been answered. But it could also be that the ‘door of acceptance’ is the divine door and even if he brought back any ‘effect’ from there the beloved would have ignored it. The beloved’s reciprocity is more important than divine grant of acceptance of prayers. Or, he may be glad that god’s will was not over-ridden by the beloved.
6
mehr¹-o-vafaa²-o-raahat³-o-aaraam⁴ ko raqiib⁵
jaur⁶-o-jafaa⁷-o-kaavish⁸-o-Khuun-e jigar⁹ ko maiN     1.kindness, favours 2.fidelity, reciprocity 3.relief, happiness 4.comfort 5.rival 6.oppression 7.cruelty 8.work 9.liver/heart
The poet/lover complains about the difference in treatment between him and the rival that the beloved offers – favours, fidelity, happiness and comfort for the rival and oppression, cruelty, hard work and heart’s blood (to deepen the colour of henna) for him.
7
meraa tariiq¹-e ishq judaa² hai jahaan³ se
chaltaa huN chhoR-chhoR⁴ ke har rahguzar⁵ ko maiN    1.method, way 2.different 3.world 4.leaving aside, departing from 5.pathway
The poet/lover/sufi/seeker’s way of love is different from that of the rest of the world. He leaves aside/shuns every path (and strikes his own).
8
tum to vo paarsaa¹ ho keh dar² tak kabhi na aao
aataa thaa muNh chhupaa’e kahiiN se sahar³ ko maiN     1.virtuous, pious 2.door 3.dawn
I am reading a lot of hidden background in this she’r. Perhaps I am completely off but here is what I guess. The poet/lover is approaching the beloved’s lane, his face hidden so as to remain incognito. He sees the beloved returning from a rendezvous with the rival. He remarks sarcastically -you claimed to be so virtuous/pious that you would not even come to the door (to see me). But here I see you when I came incognito to your lane at dawn.
9
dil de ke unn ko aur bhi ummiid¹ baRh ga’ii
jaanaa thaa ye keh chhooT² gayaa umr-bhar³ ko maiN    1.hope 2.liberation, freedom, release 3.life-long
I gave my heart to the beloved and this raised my hopes even more. I thought that I have been released/freed for my life-time. It is implied that instead of being freed he has been made captive for his life.
10
donoN meN aek to nikal aae’gaa¹ saKht-jaan²
dekhuuNgaa aaj dil se laRaa kar jigar³ ko maiN     1.nikal aa’egaa means emerge, materialize 2.callous, shameless, hard to kill, survive 3.liver/heart
I don’t see the point of this she’r except ‘qaafiya-bandi’ with ‘jigar ko maiN’. If anyone sees some hidden meaning in it, please let me know. Between the two of them, one will emerge a survivor. I will see who wins after getting the heart and the liver to fight it out.
11
aye daaGh¹, subh-e hashr² thi subh-e shab³-e visaal⁴
jab ye kahaa kisi ne keh jaataa huN ghar ko maiN     1.pen-name 2.doomsday 3.night 4.union
O daaGh, the morning of the night of union turned into the dawn of doomsday when that someone (the beloved) said that she has to go home now.