Click here for background and on any passage for word meanings and explanatory discussion. anand mohan gulzar dehlavi (1926-alive) is passionate about his love of urdu, reaches across the communal divide to forcefully own the issue of communal harmony and speaks very frankly and provocatively. Here he is reacting to fake history invented by the hindutva right wing and telling them that they cannot fool anybody. A word of caution … making such statements to claim that we have the same rights as everyone else is very different from any claims of superiority/exclusivity. The latter should be abhored.
1
aaii naaqoos¹ ki aavaz jo but-Khaane² se
shama’-e tauheed³ pe jalte rahe parvaane⁴ se
ho ke Khud dair-nashiN⁵, fikr⁶-e haram⁷ hai un ko
miyaN gulzar⁸ nazar aate haiN diivaane se    1.conch shell, shaNkh 2.idol house, temple 3.one-ness, unity 4.moth 5.residing/visiting temple 6.worry 7.mosque 8.poet’s pen name
Even as the sound of the conch shell/shaNkh emerged from the temple, the poet lover circled the lamp of one-ness of god i.e. he recognizes that it is the same god, whether it is worshipped in the temple or in the mosque. He himself is a temple worshipper, but he seems to be worried about the mosque … gulzar seems mad.
2
aaTh sau saal meN likkhi hui taareeKh¹-e vafa²
jo raqam³ karte rahe aaj haiN anjaane⁴ se
nosh⁵-e zamzam⁶ ki tarah shurb⁷ raha gaNga-jal⁸
aaj mahroom⁹ huN kyuN, aab¹⁰ se ya daane¹¹ se   1.history 2.love 3.write 4.feigning unawareness, looking the other way 5.drink 6.spring near k’aaba considered holy water 7.drinkable 8.Ganges water considered holy 9.deprived 10.water 11.grain, food
Those who used to write the history of love/faith/harmony of 800 years now look the other way. The water of zamzam and the Ganges is equally sacred. Why then am I deprived of food and water (sustenance of love) today.
3
bole gulzar ke suniye to janaab-e-vaala¹
kaise taareeKh² badal jaayegi jhuTlaane³ se
qaazi⁴-e vaqt ne fatwa⁵ ye diya mimbar⁶ par
“paasbaaN⁷ mil gaye k’aabe ko sanam-Khaane⁸ se”     1.dear sir 2. history 3.denying, declaring false 4.islamic priest 5.religious decree/declaration 6.pulpit 7.caretaker/protector 8.temple
Said gulzar, listen to me dear sir. How can history be changed by simply denying it. The qazi has declared from the pulpit that the k’aaba has found protectors from among the people of the temple. The last misra is taken from mohammed iqbal’s “javaab-e shikwa”. gulzar uses in the spirit of protecting muslim history in India, much like jagan nath azad writes …
abhi yeh sarzamiN Khaali nahiN hai nek bandauN se
abhi maujood haiN TooTe hue dil joRne vaale
4
muKhtasir¹ aaj ye taareeKh bhi dohraate² haiN
jis ke gulzar bhi raavi³ hue farzaane⁴ se
TukRe TukRe raha khanDat⁵ raha bhaarat barsauN⁶
bhool sakta hai jahaaN aap ke jhuTlaane⁷ se   1.brief 2.repeat 3.narrator 4.wisdom 5.divided 6.years 7.denying
Let us listen again to this brief history that gulzar narrates in wisdom. bhaarat was divided in regions for many years. How can anyone forget simply because of your denial.
5
shahr par shahr basaate¹ rahe barsauN² jo log
un ke ghar aaj nazar aate haiN veeraane³ se
kis ne baNgaal ko sarhad⁴ se milaaya aa kar
kis ne milva diya lashkar⁵ ko tarab-Khaane⁶ se   1.established 2.for years 3.desolate 4.usually used for Northwestern boundaries 5.army 6.house of pleasure
The implication is that muslims established city after city and today their homes are desolate. muslim kings in India established a country/reign from the western boundaries all the way to bangal. After their conquest they established peaceful rule. mohammed iqbal also writes …
maiN tujh ko bataata huN, taqdeer-e umam kya hai
shamshir o sinaaN avval, taaus o rubaab aaKhir
Let me tell you the course of destiny of nations
They conquer first and then turn to art and culture
6
kaun tha shaah-e-dakkan, kis ne kiya sar¹ jaa kar
vaaq’eaa² ye bhi badal jaayega bahkaane³ se
zulf⁴-e baNgaal ki zanjir⁵ ata⁶ ki kis ne
baat manvaaiye⁷ apni kisi anjaane⁸ se   1.to overcome, conquer 2.story 3.deceive 4.hair 5.chain 6.grant 7.convince 8.simpleton
gulzar implies that the dakkan was integrated into the rest of India by muslim rulers and no amount of deception can change this story. I am not sure that I understand what he means by “granting the chain of the hair of bangal”. But whatever he sees this to be, and whatever the distorted version that hindutva presents, he declares that only a simpleton might believe them.
7
rajpuutaane ko yaktaaii¹ ata² ki kis ne
kaun vaaqif³ nahiN taareeKh⁴ ke is Khaane⁵ se
kis ne gujarat ko dilli ki dikhaaii surat
hind phir ek hua kis ke davaKhaane se  1.unity 2.grant 3.aware 4.history 5.box, area/part
He repeats the story of a fragmented India of small principalities in rajputaana and in gujarat, which were unified into a single administration which evolved into present day India.
8
kis ne mandir kiye t’aamiir¹ masaajid² ke qareeb³
kaise ushshaaq⁴ ne pii ek hi paimaane⁵ se
kis ki t’aamiir ne bhaarat ko diya taaj mahal
kuchh na mil paayega arvaah⁶ ko taRpaane⁷ se  1.built 2.plural of masjid 3.near 4.lovers/devotees 5.cup 6.souls 7.torturing
mandir and masjid were built next to each other. There was enough mutual respect and love that they drank out of the same cup (recognized that they were praying to the same god). The spirit/soul of those buried in the taj mahal is being tortured (by propagating fake history). You will not gain anything by it.
9
gaNga-jumni hui tahzeeb¹ muzayyan² kaise
baada³-e ishq⁴ lunDhi⁵ kaun se mai-Khaane⁶ se
kis ne paida kiye Khusro, ke rahim o daara
kaun munkir⁷ hai raskhaan⁸ ke paimaane⁹ se  1.culture 2.embellished 3.wine 4.love 5.poured 6.tavern 7.deny 8.syed ibrahim ras Khaan (1548-1628) 9.cup
gulzar writes that the gaNga-jumni/composite culture developed and was embellished because of the work of many muslims. It was from this tavern that the wine of love flowed. Examples of people who worked for such integration … amir Khusro, abdul-rahim Khaan-e KhaanaaN, daara shikoh. ras Khaan was born in kabul and died in brindavan. He was a poet and krishna devotee who wrote bhajans in avadhi. Who can deny the cup of wine of love of ras Khaan.
10
ghar ke bhedi¹ hue jai-chand ki surat² paida
kuchh savaal³ aap bhi kar lijiye diivaane se
kis ko dete ho ye tashnee’⁴ zara sharm karo
secular hind bana un ke hi chamkaane se  1.traitor 2.like, similar to 3.question 4.slander, taunt
gulzar suggests that there were traitors like jai-chand, why blame others (muslims). Ask this fool (gulzar) and he will tell you. Why do you slander them, hindustan became a secular administration because of them … (them includes a wide range of rulers over a long period of time).
11
aaj parcham¹ pe jo ye chakr² saja baiThe ho
tum be baudhauN³ ko nikaala isi mai-Khaane⁴ se
fazl-e-haq⁵ ban ke mila, Khair se kaala-paani⁶
vo nikal jaayeNge kya aap ke Ghurraane⁷ se  1.flag 2.wheel 3.Budhists 4.tavern 5.fazl-e haq Khairabadi 6.imprisonment in the Andaman Islands 7.growling
This wheel (Budhist symbol) that you display on the flag, you are the ones who drove Budhists out of this tavern. fazl-e haq Khairabadi (1797-1861) was a close friend of Ghalib and edited one of his divaans at the request of Ghalib. His grandson was muztar Khairabadi, whose grandson is javed aKhtar. He issued a call for rebellion in 1857, claimed it as a credit during his trial, and was sentenced to Andaman Islands where he died. Will he be released because of your growling, asks gulzar.
12
jis ne sun-aaTh¹ meN begaar² ki chakki piisi
aaj hasrat³ bhi nazar aate haiN diivaane se
maalTa meN tha mila des nikaala jin ko
aaj aate haiN nazar aap ko begaane⁴ se  1.year 1908 2.forced labour 3.hasrat mohani 4.foreign, other
gulzar reminds hindutva accusers of hasrat mohani who was charged with sedition for printing pro-independence articles. He refused special privilege as a political prisoner and as subjected to forced labour in prison, grinding grain in a ‘chakki’. He wrote a Ghazal about it …
hai mashq-e suKhan jaari, chakki ki mashaqqat bhi
Several muslim leaders of the Deoband school conspired an armed rebellion against British rule and even set up a government in exile with maharaja pratap singh as President. They were all captured and exiled to maalTa (at the time a British Colony). gulzar cries out, today they appear foreign/other to you.
13
kaun mahmood hasan¹ tha, ke husain ahmad² tha
kaoii saani³ mila un ka tumheN but-Khaane⁴ se
kaun aazad⁵ tha, qidvaaii⁶ tha, kichlu⁷ tha kaun
kya badal jaayegi taareeKh⁸ ye jhuTlaane⁹ se  1.mahmood-ul-hasan (1851-1920) deobandi scholar active in rebellious independence movement (also opposed to a separate muslim state) 2.husain ahmad madani (1879-1957) also of deoband, freedom fighter 5.abul kalaam azad (1888-1958) 6.rafi ahmad qidvaai (1894-1954) 7.safiudding kitchlew (1888-1963) 8.history 9.falsification
gulzar reminds his audience of exemplary Indian freedom fighters and challenges them that they cannot change history by falsification.
14
sarhadi-gandhi¹ bana kaun sa abdul-Ghaffaar
sub haqaa’eq² hi badal jaayeNge Khas-Khaane³ se
bole haq-goii⁴ pe gulzar ki millat⁵ ke faqeeh⁶
“paasbaaN⁷ mil gaye kaabe ko sanam-Khaane⁸ se”   1.frontier gandhi – a title used for Khaan abdul Ghaffaar Khaan 2.facts 3.hut made of fragrant straw 4.truth telling 5.community 6.religious/islamic jurists 7.protector 8.temple
Khas-Khaana is a hut constructed with fragrant straw and sprayed with water so people can take refuge from extreme heat on the outside. This is like saying if you go inside a Khas-Khaana, the weather outside will not change … like hiding your head in the sand. gulzar reminds his audience of Khaan abdul Ghaffaar Khaan and suggests that their denying history is like hiding their heads in the sand. Because of his truth-telling, gulzar has been declared by islamic jurists to be a protector/spokesman of muslims. misra borrowed from iqbal’s javaab-e shikwa.