Click here for background and on any passage for word meanings and explanatory discussion. amir minaaii (1829-1900) was contemporary of daaGh dehlavi and much like him received patronage in rampur and later in hyderabad, where he died and is buried. This is one of three Ghazal that amir minaaii composed in the style of Ghalib’s ‘saaqi ne kuchh mila na diya ho sharaab meN’. All three are linked to ‘Ghalib naqsh-e qadam’.
1
raahat¹ kahaaN hai us ko jo hai pech-o-taab² meN
dekha na paa³-e mauj⁴ ko kafsh⁵-e habaab⁶ meN    1.tranquility, comfort 2.restlessness 3.foot of 4.wave 5.shoe 6.bubble
Waves in the sea are symbolic of restlessness, constantly moving. Bubbles ride on waves but the base of the wave is tranquil/still. Thus, you never see someone who is restless, to be tranquil. No one has seen the wave put his foot in the shoe of the drop i.e., the wave remains restless in spite of so many bubbles of tranquility available to it.
2
saaqi masiih¹-e vaqt hai bazm²-e sharaab meN
deta hai bhar ke mai³ qadah⁴-e aaftaab⁵ meN    1.Jesus, healer 2.gathering 3.wine 4.cup 5.sun
What does the poet mean by ‘qadah-e aaftaab’ – shining cups or shining eyes of the saaqi or something else. I am at a loss. I will go with ‘shining eyes of the saaqi’ waiting for someone to offer a better explanation. Thus, saaqi is the healer of the times. The sorrows of the times can be forgotten with the wine that the saaqi serves up in the gathering of wine-drinkers. She serves this wine in brimming shiny cups … like the eyes of the saaqi herself. Her intoxicating eyes are the theme of numerous Ghazals.
3
dil saaf¹ ho to kashmakash²-e dahr³ kya kare
sho’la⁴ hai kab dhueN ki tarah⁵ pech-o-taab⁶ meN    1.pure, devoid of temptations 2.struggle, temptations 3.material world 4.flame 5.like, similar to 6.restlessness
The candle flame is quite steady as it burns. Only beyond the tip of the flame you can see billowing wisps of smoke symbolic of restlessness. Thus, if your heart is pure the temptations of the material world do not mean much to you. You can remain calm/aloof from the struggle of life, like the pure and steady flame. The flame is not restless like the dark wisps of smoke.
4
duniya bhi diin¹ hai jo ho lazzat² bashar³ se tark⁴
kyuN ho haraam⁵ nashsha⁶ na ho jis sharaab meN    1.pure, blameless 2.(carnal) pleasure 3.human 4.forsake, renounce 5.forbidden 6.intoxication
You can lead a pure/blameless life in this material world if you renounce the temptation of material pleasures just like you can enjoy wine that does not cause intoxication.
5
darya¹ meN ho gaya hai nahaane se un ko ishq²
shaa’ed³ hai naqsh-e-hub⁴ ka asar⁵ naqsh-e-aab⁶ meN   1.river 2.love 3.perhaps 4.reflection of love 5.effect 6.reflection in the water
This has echoes of the story of the greek legend of Narcissus who say his own reflection in the river and fell in love with it, eventually dying of sorrow because the reflection did not return his love. Thus, the flower, narcissus was born – it grow on river banks and droops as if constantly looking at its own reflection in the water. Thus, the beloved too has fallen in love with the habit of bathing the river. Perhaps she sees a reflection of love in her own reflection in the water.
6
Khat¹ us ke ruu-e-saaf² pe nikla Ghazab³ hua
maanind⁴-e maah⁵ daaGh⁶ laga aaftaab⁷ meN   1.line of the first fuzz of hair on a pre-adolescent boy’s face 2.clear face 3.calamity 4.similar to, like 5.moon 6.stain 7.sun, bright
amir minaaii represents the tail end of the tradition of openly expressing pre-pubescent boys as ‘the beloved’. The appearance of facial hair also represents the time when perhaps the young boy ceases to be the beloved. Thus, it is a calamity that fuzzy hair has begun to appear of the beloved’s clear face. It is as if dark spots like those on the moon appeear on the clean and bright sun.
7
dikhlaate haiN vo vaqt-e gazak¹ mo’jez²-e masiih³
hoNToN⁴ se jaan paRti hai murGh⁵-e kabaab meN    1.a sweet, sweetness 2.miracle 3.Jesus 4.lips 5.bird, fowl
The sweetness of the beloved’s lips has the same effect as the miracle of Jesus – bringing the dead back to life. Thus, when she eats chicken kabaab, the miraculous touch of her lips brings the chicken back to life. This brings to mind the imagery that even a chicken is so eager to touch her lips that it comes back to life.
8
parvaah¹ nahiN hai hum ko agar² haiN qafas³ meN band
sayyaad⁴, sair⁵ baaGh ki karte haiN Khwaab⁶ meN    1.care, worry 2.if 3.cage 4.bird catcher 5.visit, walk/fly through 6.dream, sleep
The poet portrays himself as a bird that has been trapped and put in a cage by the bird catcher. Traditionally, the caged bird sings sad songs of memories of the beauty and freedom of home and begs the bird catcher to set him free. But here the poet/bird is definat – I don’t care if I have been imprisoned in a cage. I visit my home (the garden) every night in my dreams.
9
likkha hai maiN ne diida¹-e giriyaaN² ka apne haal³
jazzaab⁴ chaahiye koii kaaGhaz kitaab meN    1.eyes 2.weeping, teary 3.condition, story 4.blotter
I have written the story of my weeping eyes. There is a need for a blotting paper to be placed in the book.
10
maiKhaane¹ meN jo aaye to naaseh² rahe Khamosh³
dam-maarne⁴ ki jaa⁵ nahiN insaaN ko aab⁶ meN    1.tavern 2.preacher, moralizer 3.silent 4.breathing 5.place, occasion, ability 6.water
For someone to be ‘in the water’ – ‘water over his head’, is to feel guilt. The preacher, when he encounters the poet/wine-lover usually harangues and moralizes about the evils of drinking. But now that he himself has shown up in the tavern he is strangely quiet like someone ‘under water’ who has no ability to breath.
11
zaahid¹ ko faiz²-e sohbat³-e rindaaN⁴ se kya amiir⁵
aalim⁶ kabhi na rah ke ho kiiRa⁷ kitaab meN    1.preacher 2.blessing 3.company 4.wine-lovers 5.pen-name of the poet 6.learned person 7.insect, worm
O amiir, how can the preacher benefit from the blessings of the company of wine-lovers. Just because a worm lives inside (in the company of) a book, it does not become learned.