Click here for background and on any passage for word meanings and explanatory discussion. mirza asadullah KhaaN Ghalib (1797-1869). I dare not write any introduction. On more than one occasion Ghalib has warned his readers that he needs no introduction or even address. I humbly comply. kalidas gupta raza dates this Ghazal to 1833, when Ghalib would have been 36 years old. Also see the many Ghazal composed in this bahr/zamin by well known and not so well-known poets over the years.
1
dil se teri nigaah¹ jigar² tak utar gaii
donoN ko ek adaa³ meN razaa-mand⁴ kar gaii   1.glance 2.liver 3.coquettish style/gesture 4.agree/submit to the will
In urdu poetic tradition sometimes heart and liver are used interchangeably but also the heart is the seat of emotions and the liver is the seat of fortitude/courage and the place where blood is made. Thus a single glance (of the beloved) cut through the heart and descended to the liver – capturing both the poet/lover’s emotions and fortitude (he cannot resist any more). Thus with the one single coquettish gesture she subdued both the heart/love and liver/fortitude/resistance and made them submit to her will.
2
shaq¹ ho gayaa hai siina Khushaa² lazzat³-e faraaGh⁴
takliif⁵-e parda-daari⁶-e zaKhm⁷-e jigar⁸ gaii   1.cut open 2.congratulations, celebrate 3.pleasure 4.leisure, absolve of responsibility 5.pain, necessity 6.hiding behind a veil 7.wound 8.liver.
The bosom is cut open, now celebrate/be happy about the pleasure of being released from the responsibility of hiding the pain (of love) in your liver/heart. Normally the poet/lover would hide the pain of love with great effort so as not to malign the reputation of the beloved. But now that his bosom is cut open, he no longer needs to do that and welcomes the freedom to express his pain.
3
vo baada¹-e shabaana² ki sarmastiyaaN³ kahaaN
uThiye bas ab keh lazzat⁴-e Khwaab⁵-e sahar⁶ gaii     1.wine 2.last night 3.extreme intoxication 4.pleasure 5.dream, sleep 6.dawn
The intense intoxication (more intoxication is better) of the night is gone (gone somewhere else? or simply ended). Because of that or perhaps in addition to that something has changed. Because of that change the pleasure sleeping (or of pleasant dreams) past dawn are gone. All that remains is a rude awakening. What is it that has caused this big change and deprivation. He leaves it for us to struggle with.
4
uRti phire hai Khaak¹ meri kuu²-e yaar³ meN
baare⁴ ab aye havaa⁵ havas⁶-e baal-o-par⁷ gaii     1.dust 2.street 3.beloved 4.finally, at long last 5.air, breeze (havaa also means desire) 6.greed, desire 7.wings and feathers
The poet is dead and buried (perhaps in the beloved’s street) and disintegrated into dust (but he still composes verse). At last his dust is being blown around in the beloved’s street while he could never walk her streets during his life time. It could also mean that finally his ‘havaa/desire’ has been fulfilled and he is the street of the beloved. Because of this he has lost his desire for wings and feathers. He does not need wings and feathers to fly because his the breeze is blowing his dust.
5
dekho to dil-farebi¹-e andaaz²-e naqsh-e-paa³
mauj⁴-e Khiraam⁵-e yaar⁶ bhi kyaa gul-katar⁷ gaii     1.deceiving the heart, enchantment 2.style, pattern 3.foot prints 4.wave, flow 5.gait, walk, stroll 6.beloved 7.gul katarna means doing something very refined/delicate
The beloved has taken a stroll through the garden and the poet/lover has come across her footprints. The pattern of her footprints is so enchanting/astonishing that her gait is described as ‘gul katarna’ – doing something very refined and delicate.
6
har bul-havas¹ ne husn-parasti² she’aar³ kii
ab aabru⁴-e sheva⁵-e ahl-e-nazar⁶ gaii     1.lecher, lustful 2.worshipping beauty 3.nature, character 4.dignity 5.activity, past-time 6.people of (refined) sight/taste
These days every lecher has adopted/acquired (the pretense of) a beauty worshipping nature. Alas, the dignity of people of discriminating manners is gone. Now every lecher can claim to be a true lover, bringing disrepute to the whole process of subtle love. Could it be that he is talking about the standards of versification. These have fallen so low that everyone engaged in ‘qaafiya-bandi-wordsmithing’ can claim to be a real poet.
7
nazzaare¹ ne bhi kaam kiya vaaN naqaab² kaa
masti³ se har nigaah⁴ tere ruKh⁵ par bikhar⁶ gaii    1.looking 2.veil 3.intoxication 4.glance 5.face 6.scattered, dispersed
It is paradoxical that just looking at her exposed face works as if it is covered with a veil. He beauty is so intoxicating that the glance of the poet/lover becomes unfocussed and gets scattered/dispersed as it reaches her face. So, whey does she need a veil.
8
fardaa¹ o dii² ka tafraqa³ yak-baar⁴ miT⁵ gayaa
kal tum gaye keh ham pe qayaamat⁶ guzar⁷ gaii   1.tomorrow, future 2.yesterday, past 3.difference 4.in a moment, suddenly 5.erased 6.doomsday, calamity 7.passed over
The difference between yesterday and tomorrow has been erased. Time stands still. The poet/lover is in a daze. It was as if a calamity of the magnitude of doomsday passed over him when the beloved left.
9
maaraa zamaane¹ ne asadullaah KhaaN tumheN
vo valvale² kahaaN vo javaani³ kidhar gaii   1.times, world 2.crying out, wailing in pain (of love) 3.youth
Ghalib composed this in 1833, by which time he had started using his new taKhallus – Ghalib most often. But here he is using not just ‘asad’ but his full name. In 1833 he would be 36 years old – not “lost youth” by today’s standards, but perhaps bordering on that by the standards of the day. As a youth he used to be able to lament/wail loudly. Now that his youth is gone, he can no longer do so. The times have robbed him of his youth.