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Recitation
نشاں نہیں ۔ برج نارئن چکبست
۱
مری بے خودی ہے وہ بے خودی کہ خودی کا وہم و گماں نہیں
یہ سرورِ ساغرِ مے نہیں یہ خمارِ خوابِ گراں نہیں
۲
جو ظہورِ عالمِ ذات ہے یہ فقط ہجومِ صِفات ہے
ہے جہاں کا اور وجود کیا جو طلسمِ وہم و گماں نہیں
۳
یہ حیات عالمِ خواب ہے نہ گناہ ہے نہ ثواب ہے
وہی کفر و دیں میں خراب ہے جسے علمِ رازِ جہاں نہیں
۴
نہ وہ خُم میں بادے کا جوش ہے نہ وہ حُسن جلوہ فروش ہے
نہ کسی کو رات کا ہوش ہے وہ سحر کہ شب کا گُماں نہیں
۵
وہ زمیں پہ جِن کا تھا دبدبہ کہ بلند عرش پہ نام تھا
اُنہیں یوں فلک نے مِٹا دیا کہ مزار تک کا نِشاں نہیں
निशाँ नहीं – ब्रिज नारायन चकबस्त
१
मेरी बे-ख़ुदी है वो बे-ख़ुदी के ख़ुदी का वहम-ओ-गुमाँ नहीं
ये सुरूर-ए-साग़र-ए-मै नहीं ये ख़ुमार-ए-ख़्वाब-ए-गिराँ नहीं
२
जो ज़ुहूर-ए-आलम-ए-ज़ात है ये फ़क़त हुजूम-ए-सिफ़ात है
है जहाँ का और वजूद क्या जो तिलिस्म-ए-वहम-ओ-गुमाँ नहीं
३
ये हयात आलम-ए-ख़्वाब है न गुनाह है न सवाब है
वही कुफ़्र-ओ-दीं में ख़राब है जिसे इल्म-ए-राज़-ए-जहाँ नहीं
४
न वो ख़ुम में बादे का जोश है न वो हुस्न जल्वा-फ़रोश है
न किसी को रात का होश है वो सहर के शब का गुमाँ नहीं
५
वो ज़मीं पे जिन का था दबदबा के बुलंद अर्श पे नाम था
उन्हें यूँ फ़लक ने मिटा दिया के मज़ार तक का निशाँ नहीं
Click here for background and on any passage for word meanings and explanatory discussion. This is an intriguing combination of bhakti and sufiyaana concepts. It is a great pleasure to read it alongside siraj aurangabadi’s ‘be-Khabari rahi’.
1
meri be-Khudi1 hai vo be-Khudi kahiN Khudi2 ka vahm-o-gumaaN3 nahiN
ye suroor4-e saaGhir-e mai5 nahiN, ye Khumaar6-e Khwaab-e giraaN7 nahiN 1.forgetting oneself in ecstasy/rapture 2.self-awareness 3.supposition and suspicion 4.pleasure 5.cup of wine 6.intoxication 7.deep sleep/dream
The poet/bhakt/sufi is in intense rapture, forgetting himself, so much so that there is not even a remote suspicion of self-awareness. He assures us that this is not the intoxication of wine nor is he dreaming. Then what is it. We are left to guess. Is it sufi/bhakti vajd/trance or is it because of the beloved?
2
jo zuhoor1-e aalam2-e zaat3 hai, ye faqat4 hujoom5-e sifaat6 hai
hai jahaaN ka aur vujood7 kya, jo tilasm8-e vahm-o-gumaaN9 nahiN 1.manifestation 2.world of 3.person, being (of god), divine essence 4.only 5.multitude 6.qualities, attributes 7.existence 8.enchantment, magic, maya 9.supposition and suspicion, illusion
That which we think of as the manifestation/idea of god as a being is nothing but a collection of attributes/qualities. What is the reality of this world except for illusion/maya – implying that reality lies in the spiritual world.
3
ye hayaat1 aalam-e Khwaab2 hai, na gunaah3 hai na savaab4 hai
vahi kufr5-o-diN6 meN Kharaab7 hai, jise ilm8-e raaz9-e jahaaN nahiN 1.life 2.world of dreams/suppositions 3.sin 4.reward/virtue 5.denial, non-belief 6.faith 7.used in the sense of tangled up 8.knowledge of 9.secret of
Life is merely a world of dreams/illusions/maya – things we have dreamt up. There is no such thing is as reward and punishment. Only they get tangled up in the concepts of belief and non-belief who do not know the secret (universal love, spirituality) of the universe.
4
na vo Khum1 meN baade2 ka josh3 hai, na vo husn4 jalva-farosh5 hai
na kisi ko raat ka hosh6 hai, vo sahar7 ke shab8 ka gumaaN9 nahiN 1.vat/storage (of wine) 2.wine 3.used here to mean strength of intoxication 4.beauty 5.selling/displaying face/beauty 6.awareness 7.dawn 8.evening/night 9.suspicion
It is possible to take ‘raat’ and ‘shab’ in the second misra to mean prevailing darkness and impending gloom. But an intriguing interpretation emerges if you take it mean ‘vasl ki raat – night of the union’ and the possibility of merging with the beloved. The cup no longer has wine that can intoxicate. Beauty no longer reveals itself. No one seems to be aware of the night of union. They live in merriment/joy (dawn), umindful of the possibility of the evening (of union with the beloved).
5
vo zamiN pe jin ka tha dabdaba1, ke buland2 arsh3 pe naam tha
unheN yuN falak4 ne miTa5 diya, ke mazaar6 tak ka nishaaN7 nahiN 1.pomp, power 2.high 3.sky, heaven 4.sky, heaven 5.erase 6.tomb, memorial 7.mark, clue, remains
They had great worldly pomp and power. Their fame was high like the sky. But heavens struck them down, erased them such that not even a mark of their memorial is left. Reminds me of Shelley’s ‘Ozymandias of Egypt’.
This is an intriguing combination of bhakti and sufiyaana concepts. It is a great pleasure to read it alongside siraj aurangabadi’s ‘be-Khabari rahi’.
1
meri be-Khudi1 hai vo be-Khudi kahiN Khudi2 ka vahm-o-gumaaN3 nahiN
ye suroor4-e saaGhir-e mai5 nahiN, ye Khumaar6-e Khwaab-e giraaN7 nahiN
1.forgetting oneself in ecstasy/rapture 2.self-awareness 3.supposition and suspicion 4.pleasure 5.cup of wine 6.intoxication 7.deep sleep/dream
The poet/bhakt/sufi is in intense rapture, forgetting himself, so much so that there is not even a remote suspicion of self-awareness. He assures us that this is not the intoxication of wine nor is he dreaming. Then what is it. We are left to guess. Is it sufi/bhakti vajd/trance or is it because of the beloved?
2
jo zuhoor1-e aalam2-e zaat3 hai, ye faqat4 hujoom5-e sifaat6 hai
hai jahaaN ka aur vujood7 kya, jo tilasm8-e vahm-o-gumaaN9 nahiN
1.manifestation 2.world of 3.person, being (of god), divine essence 4.only 5.multitude 6.qualities, attributes 7.existence 8.enchantment, magic, maya 9.supposition and suspicion, illusion
That which we think of as the manifestation/idea of god as a being is nothing but a collection of attributes/qualities. What is the reality of this world except for illusion/maya – implying that reality lies in the spiritual world.
3
ye hayaat1 aalam-e Khwaab2 hai, na gunaah3 hai na savaab4 hai
vahi kufr5-o-diN6 meN Kharaab7 hai, jise ilm8-e raaz9-e jahaaN nahiN
1.life 2.world of dreams/suppositions 3.sin 4.reward/virtue 5.denial, non-belief 6.faith 7.used in the sense of tangled up 8.knowledge of 9.secret of
Life is merely a world of dreams/illusions/maya – things we have dreamt up. There is no such thing is as reward and punishment. Only they get tangled up in the concepts of belief and non-belief who do not know the secret (universal love, spirituality) of the universe.
4
na vo Khum1 meN baade2 ka josh3 hai, na vo husn4 jalva-farosh5 hai
na kisi ko raat ka hosh6 hai, vo sahar7 ke shab8 ka gumaaN9 nahiN
1.vat/storage (of wine) 2.wine 3.used here to mean strength of intoxication 4.beauty 5.selling/displaying face/beauty 6.awareness 7.dawn 8.evening/night 9.suspicion
It is possible to take ‘raat’ and ‘shab’ in the second misra to mean prevailing darkness and impending gloom. But an intriguing interpretation emerges if you take it mean ‘vasl ki raat – night of the union’ and the possibility of merging with the beloved. The cup no longer has wine that can intoxicate. Beauty no longer reveals itself. No one seems to be aware of the night of union. They live in merriment/joy (dawn), umindful of the possibility of the evening (of union with the beloved).
5
vo zamiN pe jin ka tha dabdaba1, ke buland2 arsh3 pe naam tha
unheN yuN falak4 ne miTa5 diya, ke mazaar6 tak ka nishaaN7 nahiN
1.pomp, power 2.high 3.sky, heaven 4.sky, heaven 5.erase 6.tomb, memorial 7.mark, clue, remains
They had great worldly pomp and power. Their fame was high like the sky. But heavens struck them down, erased them such that not even a mark of their memorial is left. Reminds me of Shelley’s ‘Ozymandias of Egypt’.
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