Click here for background and on any passage for word meanings and explanatory discussion. saadhu ram aarzu saharanpuri (1901-1983) saharanpur and kolkata. He was a shaagird of faani badayuni. There are at least two collections of Ghazal and nazm. There is precious little by way of biographical information but it seems that he was associated with teaching (perhaps urdu) in some college in kolkata. This Ghazal is linked to Ghalib naqsh-e qadam. Also noteworthy is that Ghalib starts the first misra of 7 out of 17 ash’aar with the word ‘phir’ and aarzu saharanpuri starts 8 of 9 the same way.
1
muddat¹ hui hai yaar² ko mehmaaN³ kiye hu’e
aaraa’esh⁴-e hariim⁵-e rag-e-jaaN⁶ kiye hu’e   1.long time 2.friend, beloved 3.guest 4.adornment 5.house, sanctuary 6.jugular vein
Here ‘rag-e-jaaN’ – jugular vein represents the pulsation of life and the ‘hariim-e rag-e-jaaN’ is the heart. Thus, it has been a long time since I have hosted/entertained the beloved and adorned the heart to receive her (or adorned the heart with her presence). Ghalib writes-
muddat hui hai yaar ko mehmaaN kiye hu’e
josh-e qadah se bazm charaaGhaaN kiye hu’e
But what does aarzu sahaaranpuri mean? Could the beloved symbolize his own poetry. It has been a long time since he has composed/read any Ghazal. Composing a Ghazal is like decorating/adorning his heart/emotions.
2
phir maa’el¹-e junoon²-e adam³ hai mazaaq⁴-e ishq
hasti⁵ ko Khaak⁶-e koocha⁷-e jaanaaN⁸ kiye hu’e     1.inclined towards, attracted to 2.passion, madness 3.non-existence 4.taste, desire 5.existence, life 6.dust 7.street 8.beloved
My desire of love is once again inclined towards the mad passion of non-existence fana. It has transformed my life into the dust of the street of the beloved. This could either mean that the poet/lover lies in the street of the beloved all day and all night long, or that he is dead and buried there and disintegrated into dust. In a reading of the word meanings only this could be the romantic beloved, but here the beloved could symbolize his poetry and/or mystical/divine beloved. This mad passion inclines the poet towards a state of non-existence (adam), where their ego and personal identity vanish. In this state, the poet becomes a pure vessel for his art.
3
phir baRh chala hai hadd¹-e ta’ayyun² se jazb³-e ishq
fitrat⁴ ke har maqaam⁵ ko uriyaaN⁶ kiye hu’e   1.limit 2.allotted, sanctioned 3.sentiments, emotions 4.nature 5.stage 6.naked, exposed
Once again, the emotions of love have stepped beyond sanctioned limits, exposing every stage of natural feelings i.e., it has crossed all stages considered natural. The lover is now stark raving mad. Again his madness/passion could be for the symbolic beloved – his own art/poetry or the in the suufi sense the divine beloved.
4
phir diida¹-e Khayaal² hai mahv³-e nishaat⁴-e diid⁵
sad-jannat⁶-e nigaah⁷ ka saamaaN⁸ kiye hu’e    1.eye 2.thought, imagination 3.engrossed, fascinated 4.pleasure 5.sighting, looking at 6.hundred heavens 7.eyes, glance 8.arrangement
Once again the eye of imagination is fascinated/engrossed in the thought of looking at the beloved. It has done this by making arrangements of a scene of a hundred heavens. What is the nishaat-e diid directed towards – the conventional romantic beloved, revelation of superb verse, or the divine. The poet leaves it tantalizingly undefined for us to fill in the gap – to join him in imagination.
5
phir raqs¹ meN haiN aaiina²-e dil ki hairateN³
nazzaara⁴-e jamaal⁵ ko hairaaN⁶ kiye hu’e   1.dance 2.reflection 3.amazement 4.scene 5.beauty, glory 6.amazed, perplexed
The heart reflects the glory of whatever the poet is perceiving and has once again gone into dance of ecstacy/amazement, looking at the scene of the glory in amazement. What is it that the poet is perceiving. He once again leads/invites us to imagine … is he ecstatic at perceiving the beauty of the conventional beloved, at the refinement of fine poetry, or of the glory of the divine?
6
phir hai zabaan¹-e ishq peh tafsiir²-e mauj³-e zulf⁴
iimaaN⁵ ko kufr⁶, kufr ko iimaaN kiye hu’e    1.tongue 2.explanation, commentary 3.waves 4.hair 5.faith 6.non-faith, other faith
In urdu poetic tradition the word ishq symbolizes the lover or in this case the poet/lover. On the tongue of the poet/lover is a commentary/description of the waves/curls of the beloved. This has transformed his faith/iimaan into non-faith i.e., worshipping/praising something other than god. This zabaan-e ishq has also transformed the lover’s non-faith into faith i.e., his new faith – the intensity of his admiration/love is his new faith. Now the question becomes what the waves/curls of the beloved’s hair symbolize. It could be the romantic beloved or the tempo of ups and downs and climax of poetry. We are invited to guess/imagine and enjoy.
7
phir le chala hai saahil¹-e tahqiiq² par koii
kishti ko nazr³-e mauja⁴-e toofaaN⁵ kiye hu’e     1.shore 2.inquiry, search, question 3.sacrificial offering, abandon 4.wave 5.storm
What does saahil-e tahqiiq mean – (a)taqhqiiq is the saahil of a stormy ocean of doubt/illusion or (b)the ocean is a storm of tahqiiq/inquiry/questioning and the saahil is the calm refuge of love/faith/certainty. In (a)the seeker is facing a storm of questions and finds refuge in rationality/inquiry. He has abandoned the boat of illusion and entered into an intense search on the shore. He finds peace in the search itself. In (b)’tahqiiq-inquiry/search’ is the ocean, which is stormy and tumultous and the ‘saahil’ is the shore which is faith/love and is calm and peaceful. Thus, he has abandoned the boat of his journey to the storms and sought refuge on the shore (in faith/love) – love could be love of the divine, universal love for all or even of a physical beloved. This reflects a classic battle between rationalism and mystic love.
8
phir maa’el¹-e haqiiqat²-e parvaaz³ hai junooN⁴
sahraa⁵-e sad-Khayaal⁶ ko zindaaN⁷ kiye hu’e    1.inclined towards 2.reality 3.flight 4.passion, madness 5.desert 6.hundred thoughts 7.prison, confinement
What is a wilderness/desert of a hundred thoughts and what does it mean to make it a prison. Perhaps the hundred thoughts do not give the poet/thinker any satisfaction, any answers to his burning questions. So, they are unproductive like the desert, barren thoughts. His passion/madness feels confined in this desert of thoughts and is once again inclined to take flight haqiiqat-e parvaaz, looking for ‘reality’ not in thought, but in love/mysticism.
9

phir sahn¹-e baaGh meN hai voh jaan²-e bahaar³-e naaz⁴
har buu-e-gul⁵ ko maikada⁶-e jaaN² kiye hu’e     1.open field 2.life 3.spring 4.coquetry 5.frangrance of the rose 6.tavern
The ‘jaan-e bahaar-e naaz’ – the life of the spring of coquetry, is the beloved. She is out in the fields of the garden making every fragrance of the rose the life of the tavern i.e., making it intoxicating. It may be a stretch, but the naaz coquetry could be the playfulness of the symbolisms of verse and the beloved could indeed symbolize versification and the intoxication and fragrance of verse, its excellence.
10
phir aaj saamne hai vo Ghaarat-gar¹-e qaraar²
har chiiz ko bahaar³-ba-daamaaN⁴ kiye hu’e    1.destroyer, plunderer 2.peace, stability 3.spring, flowers 4.gathered in the hem, collected
The beloved is the destroyer of peace and tranquility, making the poet/lover restless. She gathers everything around into the hem of her garment (carrying things in the daaman means taking possession of them) and changes it all into flowers … fragrant and beautiful. This could be the romantic/divine beloved’s beauty/glory which makes everything around also appear beautiful and pleasant. The beloved could also symbolize the poet’s verse (which he loves intensely); everything that the verse gathers into words, is made beautiful/musical/meaningful.
11
tartiib¹ de rahaa huN phir afsaana²-e jamaal³
shab’haa⁴-e ziindagii ko pareshaaN⁵ kiye hu’e 1.arrange, organize, compose 2.legend, tale 3.beauty, glory 4.nights 5.scatter, waste
The poet is once again engaged in organizing/composing the tale of beauty. The act of writing about the beloved’s beauty makes the poet’s nights restless/scattered and filled with longing. The beloved could symbolize his poetry … the act of composing verse is intensive, energy demanding and causing sleepless nights.
12
phir kaamyaab¹-e markaz²-e aslii³ hai aarzu⁴
sair⁵-e huduud⁶-e vaadii⁷-e irfaaN⁸ kiye hu’e    1.successful 2.center, focus 3.real, authentic 4.pen-name, taKhallus 5.wandering, saunter 6.limits, boundaries 7.valley 8.mystic knowledge
The poet, aarzu-desire (either the poet or desire-personified) finally finds success after exploring the limits of knowledge and spiritual understanding, reaching the core of truth. What this core is that he has found, he does not say. Either has wandered through the valley of mysticism and decided that there was nothing there and returned to the core – rational thinking (my preference) or he has found universal/divine love at the centre of mysticism. The poet leaves us to work it out