Click here for background and on any passage for word meanings and explanatory discussion. shahed (1944-living) is a beginner to urdu and novice in versification. An engineer by training with no formal education in urdu. He never-the-less attempts to write. Thoroughly unromantic, rational (he thinks), rebellious, defiant but loving and caring.
1
shaa’er ne azal¹ se hai kiya ek yahi bayaaN
hota hai sitam² us pe jo karta Gham-e-jaanaaN³     1.beginning (of time) 2.cruelty 3.pain of love of the beloved
The poet has, from the beginning of time, written/recited, that cruelty is visited upon him that suffers from the pain of love of the beloved.
2
chashmak¹ se chale tiir, mizshgaaN² bane Khanjar³
raatoN ki uRi neend, kaaNToN ka tha bistar    1.wink 2.eyelashes 3.daggers
The beloved’s playful winks hit like arrows, her sharp eye-lashes cut like daggers. There was no sleep at night. The bed was like a bed of thorns.
3
maiN bhi yahi paRhta raha sunta raha aksar¹
garche² kabhi socha ke hai ye khel saraasar³     1.often 2.even though 3.head to toe
I too read and heard this often, even though I sometimes thought this was mere mischief and word-play.
4
ye such hai ke tashbeeh¹-o-ishaara² tha kabhi aur
laikin vo sitamgar³ pe tha ilzaam⁴ bhi kuchh aur     1.simile 2.pointer (towards hidden meaning) 3.cruel beloved 4.accusation
It is true that sometimes there was simile and hidden meaning. But the accusation of the cruel beloved was something else.
5
hadd¹ ye hai ke osman² jo the ‘hazrat-e aala’³
the jin ke Khavaas⁴ ek nahiN sau se ziyaada     1.limit 2.osman ali KhaaN, erstwhile nizam of hyderabad 3.exalted person, the self granted title ‘aala hazrat’ used for the nizam 4.special people, euphemism for concubines
osman ali KhaaN had nearly a hundred concubines. He was also a poet of reasonably good calibre and profuse output. A lot of his work includes conventional moaning of the cruelty of the beloved. There is no mention of his use of concubines as carnal instruments. Thus, it is a limit that even osman, who was known as aala hazrat, and had more than a hundred concubines …
6
vo bhi jo likhe jaur-o-jafa¹ ka vahi qissa
duniya ne suna aur bharam² phir bhi chalaaya   1.cruelty and pain 2.deception
… wrote of the same old story of the cruelty and pain inflicted by the beloved, the world heard and maintained the same illusion/deception.
7
fahmida¹ sada² aaii jo parviN³ se zamiN par
palTi hai nazar phir ke asal⁴ jaur-o-jafa⁵ par    1.wise, knowledgeable also the name of a great feminist poet, fahmida riaz 2.sound, cry, call 3.the constellation Pleiades, symbolic of sky/heavens also name of another great feminist poet, parveen shakir 4.real 5.pain and suffering
When the call of wisdom (of fahmida riaz and parveen shakir) descended from heaven, then eyes turned to the real pain and suffering.
8
badan ke karb¹ ko koii samajh na paaya tha
vo dil meN royi thi chehra to muskuraya tha    1.pain
This is taken directly from parveen shakir’s ‘bhool jaauNgi’. No one could understand her pain. She cried inside her heart, but her face was all smiles.
“badan ke karb¹ ko vo bhi samajh na paayega
maiN dil meN rouNgi aaNkhauN meN muskuraauNgi”
9
vo doosri ko bhi sapne dikhaaye jaayeNge
ajab¹ nahiN ke phir us ke din bhi aayeNge²     1.unusual, surprise 2.us ke din aayeNge is an expression meaning their circumstances will change too
This is taken directly from fahmida riaz’s ‘vo laRki’. The second one (second wife) will also be shown rosy dreams. It will be no surprise that her circumstances will change too.
“tanhaaii meN chupke chupke naazuk sapne bunti hogi
tum ab jis ke ghar jaate ho, kya vo mujh se achchhi hogi”
10
jaur-o-jafa¹ ke she’r meN laffaazi² ho to ho
sautan³ ke masaavi⁴ hai koii lafz⁵ to bolo     1.pain and cruetly 2.word play 3.second wife in a polygamous relationship 4.equivalent, parallel 5.word
There may be word play in verses about the pain and cruelty inflicted by the beloved. But if there is a word (male, polyandry) equivalent to second wife (in polygamy), let me know.