Click here for background and on any passage for word meanings and explanatory discussion. om krishn raahat (1925-xxxx) jalandhar and fareedabad. Learnt urdu in school and college. Retired from government service in 1984. His father was a close friend of aKhtar shiiraani which inspired him to compose verse. In an introduction to his book, he declares himself irreligious, non-believing and left-leaning. He has several collections of Ghazal and nazm to his credit, along with short stories. This Ghazal is linked to others of the same radeef on the Refrain page under ‘dulhan ki tarah’.
1
mera siy’h¹ nasiib² shab³-e taar⁴ ki tarah
saaya-figan⁵ raha hai Gham-e yaar⁶ ki tarah    1.black 2.fate 3.night 4.dark 5.casting shadow 6.friend, beloved
The sorrow of (unrequited) love of the beloved casts a shadow on the poet/lover – overwhelms him. His ill-fate too does the same thing like a dark night.
2
soz¹ o vafa² o dard³ o mohabbat ka imtezaaj⁴
mujh meN bhi paaoge meray ash’aar⁵ ki tarah    1.fire, passion 2.fidelity, faithfulness 3.pain, sorrow 4.mixture 5.couplets, verse
The poet is true to himself. He writes what he feels. Thus you will find a mixture of passion, fidelity, pain and love in me/my character just as you will find them in my verse.
3
kuchh vus’at¹-e junuN² ka ehaata³ na ho saka
ham daa’eray⁴ meN ghoomay⁵ haiN parkaar⁶ ki tarah    1.expanse, extent 2.madness of passion 3.encircle, surround 4.circle 5.go around 6.compass as in geometrical instrument
To encircle/surround something can mean either to control/overcome or to measure how big it is. It can be used in both senses here. The poet/lover is mad with passion. He cannot measure how intense his passion is or he cannot control his passion even though he is going around in circles like a compass.
4
tanhaaii¹ shab² ki mujh say mera haal³ jaan⁴ kar
maanoos⁵ ho gaii hai Gham-e yaar⁶ ki tarah    1.loneliness 2.night 3.condition 4.knowing 5.familiar, intimate 6.friend, beloved
During nights of separation from the beloved the poet is intensely lonely. Loneliness of the night has asked about his condition and has seen it so often that it has become very familiar with him just like sorrow for the love of the beloved.
5
maut¹ aa gaii to maut ka sab Khauf² Tal³ gaya
sar par laTak⁴ rahi thi ye talvaar⁵ ki tarah   1.death 2.fear 3.passed, went away 4.hanging, dangling 5.sword
Fear of death has been dangling on the head of the poet all this time. But now that he is dead (or perhaps near death) fear of death has left him. This perhaps the poet’s way of saying that there is no need to fear death, it is inevitable and we accept it.
6
sab kuchh gaNvaa¹ kay ishq ka sauda², meray liye
mahaNga³ paRa hai zauq⁴-e Khariidaar⁵ ki tarah    1.losing 2.trade 3.expensive 4.taste, desire 5.buyer
When a buyer is eager to buy something, he/she may have to pay more. In much the same way, in trying to ‘buy’ love, the poet/lover offered everything – including his life. Having done that, he did not get anything in return except broken promises. Thus, this trade turned out to be expensive.
7
kya kuchh suna hai ishq meN aur kuchh nahiN kaha
chup¹ saadh² lii hai ham ne to diivaar ki tarah     1.silence 2.desire, require, adopt
What all we not heard in love i.e., the beloved has heaped so much abuse on the lover and/or society has condemned him as a mad man, but still I did not say anything. I have adopted silence like a wall.
8
ab dil ka siidhi raah¹ par aana mahaal² hai
bal³ khaa gaya hai TooTe hue taar ki tarah    1.path 2.difficult 3.twist, tangle
The imagery is that of a taught wire (let us say the string of a musical instrument). It snaps, coils up and gets tangled. It is very difficult to straighten it out. Much the same thing has happened to the heart. It is difficult now to bring it back to the straight path.
9
shaam-e firaaq¹ sahme² huay vaqt ka Khiraam³
madd’ham⁴ hai meri nabz⁵ ki raftaar⁶ ki tarah    1.separation 2.scared 3.gait, style of moving 4.soft, faint 5.pulse 6.speed
Even time is scared/burdened with sorrow during the night of separation. The style of movement of time-the flowing of time slows down, becomes faint, like the speed/energy of the pulse of the poet/lover.
10
raahat¹ chalay haiN arz²-e tamanna³ kay shauq⁴ meN
ab kay bhi muNh-ki-khaa’eNge⁵ har baar⁶ ki tarah    1.pen-name of the poet 2.petition, appeal 3.intense desire 4.wish 5.an expression meaning roughly … you will have to eat your words, you will be insulted 6.every time
The poet, raahat, is going with the wish to present his intense desire to the beloved. This time too, like every other time, he will face abuse/insult.