Click here for background and on any passage for word meanings and explanatory discussion. mirza asadullah KhaaN Ghalib (1797-1869). I dare not write any introduction. On more than one occasion Ghalib has warned his readers that he needs no introduction or even address. I humbly comply. This Ghazal is dated 1821 (nusKha-e raza – kalidas gupta raza) when Ghalib was still in the phase of composing complex verse. It is linked to ‘Ghalib naqsh-e qadam’ along with others composed by later shu’ara in the same radeef/qaafiya.
1
mahram¹ nahiN hai tu hi navaa-haa²-e raaz³ ka
yaaN varna⁴ jo hijaab⁵ hai parda⁶ hai saaz⁷ ka     1.intimate 2.sounds, voices 3.secrets, mysteries 4.otherwise 5.veil 6.curtain, sheet 7.music
In this she’r Ghalib envisions the mysteries of the cosmos expressed in musical sounds. There are strong sufiana undertones to the she’r. god is manifest in everything. If you cannot see/hear it, then it is you who is not intimate with the sounds of the secrets of the universe. Otherwise, even the hijaab/veil is like a sheet of music (if only you can read/hear it) i.e., god may be behind a veil, but the veil itslef speaks of him.
2
raNg-e shikasta¹ sub’h-e bahaar²-e nazaara³ hai
ye vaqt hai shaguftan⁴-e gul-haa⁵-e naaz⁶ ka     1.broken – used here in the sense of erased or washed out 2.spring, blooms 3.sighting, scenery 4.blossoming 5.plural of gul, roses 6.coquetry
The poet/lover sights the beloved and is so overwhelmed by her beauty that the colour of his face goes pale (is washed out). This pale colour is like the earliest appearance of dawn. That is also the time for roses to blossom which becomes ‘sub’h-e bahaar-e nazaara’. This is the time for roses of coquetry to bloom.
3
tu aur suu¹-e Ghair² nazar-haa³-e tez-tez⁴
maiN aur dukh teri mizsha-haa⁵-e daraaz⁶ ka     1.direction, towards 2.other, rival 3.plural of nazar, glances 4.sharp 5.plural of eyelash, eyelashes 6.long
Long eyelashes are supposed to ‘penetrate’ the heart. The beloved is glancing towards the rival with sharp looks. These could be angry looks or looks of focused attention. In the second misra the poet is feeling sorrow/distress because of her long eyelashes. This could mean that he feels distress/envy because the beloved is looking with keen attention at the rival. Alternative, it could mean that he feels sorrow because he knows that the beloved’s long eyelashes will not be able to ‘penetrate’ the rival’s heart because he is hard-hearted, not a true lover.
4
sarfa¹ hai zabt²-e aah³ meN mera vagarna⁴ maiN
tu’aama⁵ huN ek hi nafas⁶-e jaaN-gudaaz⁷ ka     1.spend, use, benefit 2.control, restrain 3.sigh 4.otherwise 5.mouthful, meal 6.breath 7.life-sapping
Pining away for the beloved, the poet/lover has become very weak. So weak, that a single deep sigh can make ‘meal of him’ i.e., he will die. That is why it is to his benefit that he restrain himself from sighing. It seems that he feels that it is necessary for him to explain why he is not sighing. What has caused this necessity … we are left to imagine.
5
haiN bas-keh¹ josh²-e baada³ se shishe⁴ uchhal⁵ rahe
har gosha⁶-e bisaat⁷ hai sar shisha-baaz⁸ ka     1.although 2.enthusiasm, eagerness 3.wine 4.glass, bottle 5.leaping 6.corner 7.carpet, floor, extent 8.glass juggler
Imagine a juggling act with glass bottles – balance the bottle on the head, let it roll down the side along the arm and roll back and get juggled back on the head. I think that by ‘har gosha-e bisaat’ he means every corner of the floor of the tavern. Apparently, it used to be the tradition during or just before the time of Ghalib that ‘muGh-bacha’ – adolescent boys working as wine-servers would dance and slight juggle wine cups (without spilling) as they brought them out to serve. To me this appears to be a description of the scene in the tavern. Thus, although wine glasses jump/dance with enthusiasm, every corner of the tavern is like the head of the glass juggler i.e., nothing spills or falls.
6
kaavish¹ ka dil kare hai taqaaza² keh hai hunuz³
naaKhun⁴ pe qarz⁵ is girah⁶-e niim-baaz⁷ ka     1.effort 2.demand 3.even now, still 4.fingernail 5.debt, obligation 6.knot 7.half open/untied
There is a knot that the poet/lover wants to untie. But it is still only half untied. Fingernails are used in untying knots. Because the knot is only half untied, the fingernail is under an obligation to complete the job and the heart demands action. What is the knot that the poet wants untied. It could be (a) the knot in his heart due to the indifference of the beloved (b) the knot/problem of winning the beloved’s heart (c) the knot of understanding the mysteries of the universe.
7
taaraaj¹-e kaavish²-e Gham-e hijraaN³ hua asad⁴
siina keh tha dafiina⁵ gohar-haa⁶-e raaz⁷ ka 1.plundered, destroyed 2.effort, search, investigate 3.separation 4.early pen-name of Ghalib 5.buried treasure 6.plural of gohar, pearls 7.secrets, mysteries
Very likely ‘Gham-e hijraaN’ – the sorrow of separation is because of separation from the divine. The grief of separation caused him to dig deep into his heart. In the effort of investigating/digging into his heart it got plundered and looted. His heart was the buried treasure of pearls of the mystery of the universe. What were these pearls – his ash’aar of course, driven by mystic love and the desire for union.