Click here for background and on any passage for word meanings and explanatory discussion. daaGh dehlavi (1831-1905), grandson of bahadur shah zafar. After 1857, he had to move to rampur and later to hyderabad, where he died. His Ghazal are more earthy and romantic than sufiyaana or philosophical. He was a disciple of zauq, whose rivalry with/jealousy of Ghalib is well known. But daaGh had good relations with Ghalib. He composed many Ghazal in the zamin of Ghalib. This one, in the style of ‘baaziicha-e atfaal hai duniya mere aage’, is linked to Ghalib naqsh-e qadam.
1
aaye bhi to vo muNh ko chhupa kar mere aage
is tarah se aaye keh na aaye mere aage    Even if she came before me, she did with her face veiled. It was as if her coming was like not coming at all.
2
dil maiN ne lagaaya hai magar dekhiye kya ho
sub jheeNkte¹ haiN apne paraa’e mere aage   1.complain, express sorrow
I have given her my heart but let us see what happens. Everyone, friends and others all express sorrow/apprehension at what might happen.
3
bujhte hue dekhuNga na maiN dil ki lagi ko
koii na kabhi sham’a bujha de mere aage    I do not want to see the flame/passion of my heart extinguished. Let no one put out the lamp before me. This can mean that he is a moth going around the lamp, the lamp being the beloved. Putting out the lamp in this case does not seem appropriate. Nobody is going to kill the beloved. This should be interpreted to mean deny the poet/lover access to her. Alternatively, his passion could be reciting poetry. In mushaa’era tradition a lamp is placed before the poet whose turn it is to recite. He does not want that lamp to be extinguished or taken away.
4
kya dam¹ ka bharosa² hai phir aaye keh na aaye
jaana ho to qaasid³ ko to jaaye mere aage   1.breath, life 2.dependability, trust 3.messenger
In poetic tradition, the poet/lover sends missives to the beloved through a messenger. Here the imagery is that of the poet dying of the pain of separation. He is on his death bed and says that he cannot depend on how long he will live. Will he be able to breathe his next breath or not. So, if the messenger is to take his message, he should go while he still is around.
5
maaNgi hai dua vasl ki kuchh aur na samjho
kosaa ho agar maiN ne to aaye mere aage     1.union 2.cursed, wished ill towards
The imagery is that the poet/lover has just finished praying. He may have been chanting some magical chants. The rival observes this and thinks that he (the poet) may have been chanting some magical curse against him and complains to the beloved. She gets annoyed with him. He protests – all I did was pray for union with you. I did not curse him (the rival). If he thinks that I have, let him come before me. I can set the record straight.
6
taivar¹ yahi kahte haiN keh ye naam hai mera
likh kar kaii harf² us ne miTaaye mere aage    1.attitude, expression of annoyance 2.words, letters of the alphabet
The implicit imagery is that of the beloved looking annoyed, writing something (perhaps with her toe on the sand) and erasing it – stamping it out with her feet. The poet/lover surmizes that she is writing his name and erasing it, as symbolic of punishing him.
7
bichhRe¹ hue maa’shuuq² mileN sub ko ilaahi³
tanha⁴ koii jannat meN na jaaye mere aage    1.separated 2.beloved 3.god 4.alone
O god, grant that everyone be rejoined with their beloved from whom they have separated. The poet does not want to go to heaven alone (without the beloved).
8
kuchh daaGh¹ ka mazkoor² jo aaya to vo bole
aaye that bura haal³ banaaye mere aage    1.pen-name of the poet 2.zikr, mention, narrative 3.condition, appearance
Someone brings up the subject of the poet/lover before the beloved. She disdainfully says – he was here sometime ago having put on (perhaps she thinks he was pretending) a pitiful condition. The implication is that she did not have pity on him.