Click here for background and on any passage for word meanings and explanatory discussion. syed aashiq husain seemab akbarabadi (1880-1951) was a scholar of farsi and arabi in addition to urdu. A progressive poet of secular outlook who wrote nazm of socialist themes as well odes to krishn and buddh. He also did a poetic urdu translation of the whole qur’aan. His secular credentials are impeccable. He along with his contemporary hasrat mohani, participated in the freedom struggle and composed a collection of devotional poems to krishn, which was published as a book called ‘krishn geet’. This Ghazal is linked to Ghalib naqsh-e qadam – jaauN kidhar ko maiN.
1
laaya huN saath vahshat¹-e divaana-gar² ko maiN
kar luuNga jalva-gaah³-e junooN⁴ baam-o-dar⁵ ko maiN    1.passion 2.madness creating 3.place of manifestation, display of beauty 4.madness, passion 5.rooftops and doorways i.e., dwellings
I bring along my madness creating passion; whichever dwelling I am in, will turn into a display site of passion. The poet speaks of bringing his untamed madness wherever he goes, symbolizing how intense emotions can reshape one’s surroundings. Perhaps the implication is that majnuN went into the desert to display his passion. The poet/lover does not have to.
2
kho kar teri gali meN dil-e be-Khabar³ ko maiN
fikr⁴-e Khudi⁵ se chhooT⁶ gaya umr-bhar⁷ ko maiN     1.losing, misplacing 2.lane 3.unaware, simpleton 4.concern 5.ego 6.freed 7.life-long
Having lost my simpleton heart in your lane, I have been freed from ego/self-awareness for a lifetime. Wandering in the beloved’s street, the poet loses his sense of self. The ‘fikr-e Khudi’ (concern about own identity), often associated with ego, dissolves in the act of love and devotion. This could also be about a spiritual transformation through surrender to the divine.
3
saazish¹ ba-qadr²-e rabt³ thi tuur⁴ o jamaal⁵ meN
samjha huN aaj uqda⁶-e saNg⁷ o sharar⁸ ko maiN     1.conspiracy, scheme 2.in proportion to 3.connection, relationship 4.mount tuur where moosa/Moses is supposed to have experienced divine manifestation 5.beauty, glory 6.riddle, mystery, knot 7.stone 8.spark
There is a close connection between a rock/stone and spark. When you strike a stone there is a spark because of this close connection. That is the mystery that the poet has understood i.e., for a spark to manifest itself there has to be a close connection with the rock. On mount tuur too, there was connection between moosa/Moses symbolized by mount tuur and the jamaal-divine glory. But the scheme that played out was in proportion to the strength of the connection between the two. moosa insisted on seeing evidence of the divine, there was a spark/lightning but moosa could not bear to see it and fainted. Thus, the connection was not very strong. There are many ash’aar playing on this theme, most notably two of Ghalib …
kya farz hai keh sun ko mil’e ek saa javaab
aao na ham bhi sa’er kar’eN koh-e tuur kii
and …
girnii thii ham pe barq-e tajallii na tuur par
dete haiN baada zarf-e qadah-Khwaar dekh kar
4
qurb¹-e maqaam²-e dost³ ki deta rahe naviid⁴
sajde⁵ qadam-qadam⁶ pe karuN ham-safar⁷ ko maiN    1.nearness 2.place of 3.beloved 4.good news 5.bow down low, prostrate 6.every step 7.fellow traveler, companion
The poet/lover is traveling on the path towards the beloved’s dwelling. He has a companion along who at every step gives him good tidings of the nearness of the beloved’s place i.e., keeps encouraging him. As a gesture of thanks, he bows down low to his companion at every step of the way. It is possible that the ham-safar is the teacher/guru and he is expressing reverence for the teacher/guide; the beloved is the divine and the safar is the journey seeking the divine.
5
hai muddai¹-e raahzani² raah³-e kuu⁴-e dost⁵
kho jaauN ya talash⁶ karuN raahbar⁷ ko maiN    1.claimant 2.highway robbery 3.path 4.lane 5.beloved 6.search 7.guide
The ‘raah-e kuu-e dost’ is the pathway towards the divine. But it itself is the claimant of highway robbery. I think of the pathway towards the divine as the journey of life and many temptations along the path as distractions away from the goal, hence robbers. The journey of life is necessarily tied to such robbery and is a claimant to raahzani. The dilemma for the poet is whether to yield to these temptations and get lost or seek out a raahbar/teacher/guru/piir.
6
Khalvat¹ ko apni mashriq²-e sajdah³ banaauNga
le jaauNga uTha ke teri rahguzar⁴ ko maiN    1.solitude, sanctuary, meditation 2.east 3.prostration 4.pathway
Normally for people in India, the direction of sajdah/prostation in namaaz is towards the west. Here the poet turns it around in a metaphorical way. The search for divine through rituals is directed towards the outside. He wants to turn it inwards and look for the divine in his own heart … thus prostrating towards his Khalvat – sanctuary, solitude. The west-east change is also symbolic of turning the search inwards as is picking up the raahguzar and taking it with him.
7
ab har nig’h¹ meN saiNkRoN mohlik² jamaal³ haiN
samjha tha pahl’e khel mazaaq⁴-e nazar ko maiN    1.glance, look 2.fatal, harmful 3.beauties, temptations 4.taste, temperament, expertise 5.sight, discerning eye
The poet seeker is on a journey seeking divine glory/beauty. But along the path there thousands of fatal beauties/temptations that catch the eye. When he started out on the journey he had thought that the temperament/expertise of discerning sight was child’s play. It did not turn out to be so. He has to learn avoid distractions.
8
ab hai, to mustaqil¹ ho faroGh²-e shab³-e visaal⁴
aisa na ho charaaGh⁵ jalaauN⁶ sahar⁷ ko maiN    1.permanent, enduring 2.radiance 3.night 4.union 5.lamp 6.light up 7.dawn
Now that it is here, let the radiance of the night of union persist; let it not be that I light the lamp for the morning. Lighting the lamp for the morning here probably means keep the lamp lit through the night until dawn. That will be necessary only if the faroGh-e shab-e visaal does not last. The poet is fearful of that and wishes/prays that it be ‘mustaqil’. What this can mean in a sufiyaana/mystical interpretation, I don’t know.
9
sahra¹ se baar-baar² vatan³ kaun jaa’ega
kyuN aye junooN⁴ yahaaN na uTha laauN ghar ko maiN    1.wilderness 2.again and again 3.homeland 4.madness, passion
The poet/lover/seekers searches for the beloved wandering the wilderness. When he is totally exhausted with the journey, there might be a temptation to return home. He questions the need to do that time and again. Picking up the home and bringing it to the wilderness metaphorically means making the wilderness itself his home. Thus, why not do that, rather than go back home again and again.
10
jhooma¹ kiya suroor² se seemaab³ raat bhar
dekha kiya kisi ki nasheeli⁴ nazar⁵ ko maiN    1.sway, dance 2.ecstacy 3.pen-name 4.intoxicating 5.eyes
This is probably still the night of the union and it is persisting causing the poet/seemaab to sway and dance in ecstacy all night long. He kept looking into the intoxicating eyes of the beloved. Going past the liberties that the poet takes with imagery we have to look at it metaphorically. The poet is conceptualizing the intoxicating eyes of the divine beloved.