Click here for background and on any passage for word meanings and explanatory discussion. syed munavvar ali-munavvar raana (1952-2024), raa’e bareili, kolkata, and lukhnau. He was a very popular and dominating presence on the mushaa’era circuit and wrote in hindi as well as urdu, using simple language. His larger family members moved to pakistan but his father chose to stay. He wrote a long book-length nazm called mohaajir-naama which is best understood as sorrow and regret at the differences and loss caused by partition. His anger is best understood when after being bestowed the sahitya akademi award for urdu literature in 2014, he returned it in 2015, to protest increasing intolerance. He remained defiant and controversial for the rest of his life. This is an excerpt from his mohaajir-naama.
1
na chaahat¹ iss taraf² baaqi³ na chaahat uss taraf baaqi
mohabbat ka varaq⁴ lagta hai saada⁵ chhoR aa’e haiN    1.liking, love 2.side 3.remains 4.page 5.plain
Love and liking remains neither on this side nor on that side. It seems as if we have left the page of love plain and unwritten, leaving it behind.
2
muravvat¹, dosti, aKhlaaq², apna-pan, milansaari³
yahaaN aatay huay kya kya asaasa⁴ chhoR aa’e haiN    1.respect, deference 2.cultured manners 3.gregariousness, sociable 4.support
Mutual respect, friendship, manners, unity and sociability; coming here what all social support systems have we left behind.
3
abhi tak aa ke saavan¹ har baras² ham ko bataata hai
keh apnay niim ki shaaKhoN³ meN jhoola chhoR aa’e haiN    1.spring 2.year 3.branches
Every year, spring rains arrive to remind us that we left behind our swing on the branches of our niim tree.
4
alag¹ mazhab² ke thay laikin dukhoN³ meN saath rahtay thay
ham aisi dosti ko de ke dhoka chhoR aa’e haiN    1.different 2.religions 3.sorrow, difficulty
We were of different religions, but stood by each other during times of need. Spurning such friendship, we have come away.
5
mohabbat se milay thay choli-daaman¹ mudattoN² pahlay
zabaaN³ ko saath le aa’e haiN bhaasha⁴ chhoR aa’e haiN   1.an expression meaning intimate 2.ages, long time 3.language/urdu 4.hindi
They had met in love and were intimate for ages, but we brought urdu along and left hindi behind as we came away.
6
dua ke phool panDitji jahaaN¹ taqsiim² kartay thay
gali ke moR par ham vo shivaala³ chhoR aa’e haiN    1.where 2.distribute, give away 3.shiv temple
Where the panDit used to distribute flower petals from the prayer meeting; at the turn of the street, that shiv temple have we left behind.
7
janaab¹-e miir² ka diivaan³ to ham saath le aa’e
magar⁴ ham miir ke maathay⁵ ka qashqa⁶ chhoR aa’e haiN     1.honourific like sir 2.mir taqi mir 3.opus 4.but 5.forehead 6.tilak mark on the forehead
This is from a she’r of mir taqi mir …
mir ke diin o mazha ko ab poochhtay kya ho unn ne to
qashqa khiiNcha dair meN baiTha kab ka tark islaam kiya
mir’s faith and religion, what can you say, he has now
adorned a tilak, sits in the temple, quit islaam a long time ago
Thus, we have brought with us the opus of mir, but we have left behind his tilak … meaning we have left behind the composite culture which mir wrote about.
8
voh ek shaa’er jo munsif¹ bhi tha urdu ka mujaahid² bhi
barahman ho ke kahlaata tha mulla³ chhoR aa’e haiN     1.judge 2.advocate, partisan, warrior 3.islamic scholar/preacher
This is about panDit anand narain mulla – whose family name ‘mulla’ was derived from the taKhallus that his father had adopted. He himself was a shaa’er of great repute and was a high court judge and a legistor. He worked hard for the cause of urdu language. Thus, the poet who as judge and a great warrior on behalf of urdu, a brahman who called himself a mulla, have we left behind.
9
vali¹ ki qabr² par ab dauRti haiN qiimti³ kaareN
magar⁴ ab ham se kya matlab⁵ keh suuba⁶ chhoR aa’e haiN     1.vali dakkhani (1667-1707) urdu poet 2.grave, tomb 3.expensive 4.but 5.concern 6.region
vali dakkhani lived his last days in ahmedabad and was buried there. The narendra modi government (state chief minister at the time) leveled the tomb overnight and built a highway over it without any public notice. Thus, now expensive cars run over the tomb of vali, but of what concern is that to us for we have left that region behind.
10
jo ek patli¹ saRak unnaau² se mohaan³ jaati thi
vahiiN hasrat⁴ ke KhwaaboN ko bhaTakta⁵ chhoR aa’e haiN   1.narrow 2.village in UP 3.village in UP 4.hasrat mohaani (1878-1951) 5.wandering
hasrat mohaani was a well recognized urdu poet, publisher and journalist as well as a freedom fighter who served many years in jail. He wrote many odes to krishn and attended janmashTami festivals in mathura many times. He worked hard for communal harmony. Thus, the narrow road that leads from unnaau to mohaan, that is where we left behind the dreams of hasrat and came away.
11
hamiiN Ghalib se naadim¹ haiN, hamiiN tulsi² se sharminda³
hamiiN ne miir ko chhoRa hai, miiraa⁴ chhoR aa’e haiN    1.regret 2.tulsidas 3.ashamed 4.mirabaai
We ourselves regret leaving Ghalib, we ourselves are ashamed to tulsidas. We have left mir taqi mir and come away leaving mirabaai behind.
12
jise likkha gaya tha aaNsuoN¹ ki raushnaaii² se
majaaz³-e be-navaa⁴ ka voh taraana⁵ chhoR aa’e haiN     1.tears (of blood) 2.red ink 3.asraar-ul-haq majaaz (1911-1955) 4.voiceless 5.anthem
majaaz was a well liked urdu poet who wrote romantic Ghazal as well as anthems of resistance/struggle of workers and for independence. Here the poet suggests that they were written with tears of blood/red ink. Thus, we have left behind the anthems of majaaz.
13
hameN hijrat¹ ki iss andhi² gupha³ meN yaad aata hai
ajanta chhoR aa’e haiN, elora chhoR aa’e haiN    1.exile, away from home 2.blind, dark 3.cave
In this dark cave of exile, we are reminded that we have left behind the caves of ajanta and ellora.
14
Ghazal yeh na-mukammil¹ hi rahegi umr-bhar² raana³
keh ham sarhad⁴ se piichhe iss ka maqta⁵ chhoR aa’e haiN    1.incomplete 2.life-long 3.pen-name of the poet 4.boundary, border 5.final she’r of a Ghazal
O raana, this Ghazal will remain incomplete all my life, because I have left the final/closing she’r behind the border.