Click here for background and on any passage for word meanings and explanatory discussion. syed kalb-e ahmed maani jaa’esi (1885-1963), deoria, uttar pradesh. His father worked for the British government of India and was transferred frequently. He received urdu and faarsi education at home and in local schools. By the time the opportunity to learn English at school came around, it was too late for him. He seems to have had, clerical and later office supervisory positions in local principalities and later worked as the editor of a magazine. He did get some patronage from raja mahmoodabad and a few others. It seems that in 1954 he was able to meet nehru and azad who granted a government pension to him. Two of his early collections were lost, and three later ones published. This Ghazal is linked to ‘Ghalib naqsh-e qadam’.
1
ziist¹ ke aasaar² ruKhsat³ haiN mohabbat dil meN hai
kaarvaaN jaata hai mir⁴-e kaarvaaN manzil⁵ meN hai   1.life 2.indications, signs 3.departed 4.leader 5.destination
‘ziist ke aasaar’-signs of life are the caravan and it is departing i.e., the body is dying. ‘mohabbat’ is the ‘mir-e kaarvaaN’-the leader of the caravan and it is already at the destination/heart i.e., mohabbat is mir-e kaarvaaN and manzil is dil.
2
aao dam¹ siine meN baaqi hai na hasrat² dil meN hai
ab to jo kuchh hai vo chashm³-e muntazar⁴ ke til⁵ meN hai   1.breath, life 2.longing 3.eyes 4.waiting 5.dark spot in the middle of the eye, iris
The poet/lover is on his last breath, neither is there any life left in his bosom nor does his heart desire anything now. Whatever he has left is concentrated in the iris of his waiting/anticipating eyes. He is waiting for the beloved to see her one last time before dies.
3
haaN azal¹ se jo muqaddar² hai vahi hoga magar
jazba³-e taaiid⁴-e qudrat⁵ saii⁶-e la-haasil⁷ meN hai   1.beginning, eternity 2.fate 3.emotion 4.assist, follow instructions 5.nature, divine 6.effort 7.not gainful, profitless, unselfish
I agree that, that which is written in my fate from the beginning, will come to pass, but still, I have to make an effort without any expectations of gain/profit because the emotion that drives me is what the divine has instructed/decreed and I want to do ‘taaiid-e qudrat’ even if my effort is ‘la-haasil’.
4
jaaN-sitaaN¹ hai husn², kya husn-e-talab³ ki ehtiyaaj⁴
vo to ziinat⁵ ke liye Khanjar kaf⁶-e qaatil⁷ meN hai     1.life taking, killing 2.beauty, beloved 3.excellent/refined demand/request 4.necessity, need 5.adornment 6.fist, hand 7.killer, beloved
In the first misra the word ‘husn’ is used in two different meanings making for a nice word-play. It is used to mean beauty personified as the beloved and ‘husn-e talab’ is used to mean a refined way of asking the beloved for something. Conventionally, the lover desires to be killed at the hands of the beloved. He might want to ask her to do so with great refinement/finesse. But what is the need to do that, her beauty is enough to kill. True, she has a dagger in her hand, but that is only for adornment. She does not need a dagger to kill, her beauty is enough.
5
jis ki manzil¹ hai baqa² vo jaada-paima³-e fana⁴
dil idhar naaqis⁵ meN shaamil⁶ hai udhar kaamil⁷ meN hai     1.destination, goal 2.immortality 3.determined on the path of 4.annihilation 5.defective, incomplete 6.mixed with, included in 7.complete, perfect
The words ‘baqa’ and ‘fana’ are used in the sufiyaana sense. ‘baqaa’-immortality can only be achieved by becoming one with the great spirit, through ‘fana’-annihilation of the self. Thus, the one who desires immortality has be firm on the path of fana/merger with divine. ‘idhar’-here/on this side is implied the material world. It is ‘naaqis’-imperfect, impure, incomplete and on the other side is the spiritual world which is perfect and complete like the divine.
6
taab¹-e Khalvat² kaun la sakta hai dil to miT chuka
kis qadar³ qaatil⁴ tera jalva⁵ bhari mahfil meN hai   1.ability to bear 2.seclusion, solitude 3.how much 4.killer, beloved 5.manifestation, glory
After all, I have already given away my heart, how can I bear to stay in solitude, away from your gathering. There is so much of your glory/beauty radiating in your crowded gathering.
7
tu jise chaahe haqiqat¹ kah jise chaahe majaaz²
ek soorat jo nazar³ meN hai vahi to dil meN hai     1.real 2.illusion 3.sight, eyes
‘haqiiqi’ and ‘majaazi’ are sufiyaana terms meaning real/spiritual and illusion/material. The poet/sufi is probably talking about the divine image that he carries in his heart. He also has the image of beloved before him. He declares that they are one and the same. It is the same image that I have in my heart as I have before my eyes. You can call this real and that an illusion, as you please.
8
ilteja¹ naaz-aafrini² ke liye hai varna³ sun
aarzu³ Khud⁴ us ki shaahed⁵ hai keh jalva⁶ dil meN hai   1.appeal, beg 2.praising coquetry 3.otherwise 4.desire 5.bear witness, testify 6.image
The poet/lover has an intense desire to see the beloved. This desire itself bears witness that he has her image in his heart i.e., he does not really need to see her physically, all he has to do to see her is look into his heart. But he still appeals/begs to see her, because it is not just to see her image but to praise her mischievous coquetry. Thus, it is your coquetry that I desire to experience/praise, otherwise, know that your image resides in my heart, which I can easily see.
9
ye mataa¹-e ziist² bhi hoti hai maani³ nazr⁴-e maut⁵
ek nazar⁶ aaNkhoN meN hai aur ek hasrat⁷ dil meN hai   1.possessions, treasure 2.life 3.pen-name of the poet, legendary ancient Persian painter 4.devotional offering 5.death 6.scene, image 7.longing, desire
This valuable life too, is but an offering to death, O maani. Life is a scene/image/illusion that I hold in my eyes but there is another longing in my heart – the longing for union with the divine spirit.