Click here for background and on any passage for word meanings and explanatory discussion. chaudhary dillu ram kausari (1882-1936) was a practicing vaishnavi hindu from the hisaar district of present day haryana. His compositions were published in various magazines and later collected by others and published in a booklet, some posthumously. The material was copied from a collection of rare books and magazines of salar jung museum in hyderabad. It appears to be a publication from around lahore.
1
bechaaragi ka sabr¹ nahiN hai shumaar² meN
vo sabr hai jo sabr kare eKhtiyaar³ meN     1.patience, acceptance 2.count 3.power, choice
Acceptance (of the will of god) under helplessness does not count as acceptance. Only that is considered acceptance when you have a choice to do something else.
2
ayoob¹ bhi agarche² the saaber³ baRe magar
saaber husain sa nahiN hai rozgaar⁴ meN     1.Biblical character Job 2.even though 3.patient, accepting 4.world
In the Biblical story of Job, he is visited with many curses/calamities which he accepts with patience without blaming god. The poet implies here that while ayoob may have been accepting, he did not really have a choice. Calamities befell him, like it or not. husain, on the other hand had a choice. He could have accepted/endorsed the suzerainty of yazid and saved himself. He refused even in the face of certain death.
3
Khud bekasi ki maut ki shabbir ne qubool¹
tha daKhl² garche³ qudrat⁴-e parvardigaar⁵ meN    1.accept 2.privilege to interfere/influence 3.even though 4.powers 5.god
Even though husain had the privilege to influence his fate, he chose not to do so. He himself accepted a painful death.
4
Thokar¹ se jis ki chashma²-e zamzam³ ubal⁴ paRe
pyaasa raha vo nahr⁵ ki qurb-o-javaar⁶ meN     1.toe, kick 2.spring 3.name of a spring near the k’aaba 4.flow over 5.stream, river 6.near surroundings
This implies that husain had (supernatural) power to kick the ground and make a spring overflow with water. Yet he chose to remain thirsty even as he was near a flowing river.
5
dikhlaaii kya husain ne Ghurbat¹ meN shaan²-e sabr
ab tak hai jis ka GhulGhula³ shahr-o-dayaar⁴ meN     1.used here in the sense of helplessness 2.glory 3.praise, fame 4.cities and homes, among all people
husain demonstrated such glory of acceptance (of the will of god) that even to this day it is admired among all people.
6
di shah ne jaan millat-e-baiza¹ ke vaaste
deeN² aa gaya tha gardish³-e lail-o-nehaar⁴ meN     1.glorious community 2.faith 3.trials and tributions 4.night and day
husain is referred to as shah-e deeN – king of faith. Here the shorter form ‘shah’ is used. husain gave his life for the glory of the community (of islam). Faith had gotten caught up in the trials of worldly/material (rather than spiritual) affairs.
7
chamka jo aaftaab¹-e shahaadat² husain ka
phir to tameez³ sub ko hui noor⁴ o naar⁵ meN     1.sun, brilliance 2.martyrdom 3.differentiation 4.light/heaven/right 5.fire/hell/wrong
When the brilliance of the martyrdom of husain shone bright, then everyone could differentiate between right and wrong.
8
islam ki baqa¹ hai shahaadat husain ki
maani² hui ye baat hai sau meN hazaar meN     1.survival 2.agreed
The martyrdom of husain is the survival of islam. Hundreds of thousands agree on this.
9
munkir-nakeer¹ ka nahiN kuchh Khauf² kausari³
donoN se pahle aayeN ge maula⁴ mazaar⁵ meN    1.names of two angels 2.fear 3.pen-name of poet 4.lord 5.grave
In the tradition of islam, two angels will come the grave of everyone and ask them about all their deeds – good and bad. This testimony will be presented on the day of judgement. Here the poet declares that he has nor fear of these two angels. Even before them husain will come to his grave (because he is a devotee) and absolve him of his transgressions.