Click here for background and on any passage for word meanings and explanatory discussion. sukhdev prashad sinha bismil allahabadi (1899-1976), learnt faarsi, arabi and urdu at a maktab until the age of 14. Sent to kayasth school for English, hindi. Illness interrupted schooling for 3 years. Restarted with great interest in shaa’eri, becoming shaagird of nooh naarvi. Worked for the Supplies department during the first world war years and then for the municipal corporation of allahabad. Participated in mushaa’era and published collections of poetry in both urdu and devnagiri scripts. This Ghazal is linked to ‘dete haiN baada zarf-e qadah-Khwaar dekh kar’, ‘Ghalib naqsh-e qadam’ on the Theme Index page.
1
vaqt-e-aKhiir¹ maut² ke aasar³ dekh kar
ahbaab⁴ ro diye ruKh⁵-e biimaar⁶ dekh kar   1.last few minutes 2.death 3.signs, indication 4.friends 5.face 6.sick, love-sick
It is common to refer to the lover as ‘biimaar’ because he is suffering in love. In this case he is on his death bed and his friends around him cannot bear signs of imminent death on his love-sick face and break into weeping.
2
dohraate¹ haiN voh sab se fasaana² kaleem³ ka
duniya ko apna taalib⁴-e deedaar⁵ dekh kar   1.repeat 2.story, legend 3.another name of moosa, Moses 4.seeker 5.sight
The beloved is veiled and her admirers constantly seek a sight of her. Seeing this, she repeats the story of Moses. The story is that Moses went on mount tuur asking to see god. He heard a divine voice saying that he would not be able to bear the sight, but he insists. There is a flash of lightning as a divine manifestation and Moses faints, unable to bear even that. The beloved reminds her admirers that that is what is going to happen to them.
3
ek musht¹-e par² ke haq³ meN usay kitni laag⁴ thi
sayyaad⁵ Khush hai mujh ko giraftaar⁶ dekh kar   1.fistful 2.feathers 3.for the sake of 4.demand, desire 5.bird-catcher, hunter 6.captured
In urdu poetic tradition the poet is often depicted as a bird. The bird-catcher is often after him and fellow birds, spreading a net to catch them. Here either the bird itself is described as a ‘fistful of feathers’ or the birdcatcher has managed to pluck feathers off the bird as he puts it in a cage. In either case the birdcatcher has been eager for this fistful of feathers and appears happy to see the bird captured. Such is the fate of the poet. Often, birdcatcher also implies the beloved.
4
duniya ke be-qusoor¹ qayaamat² meN baar baar
pachhtaa³ rahe haiN shaan⁴-e gunahgaar⁵ dekh kar   1.innocents 2.doomsday, day of judgement 3.regret 4.dignity 5.sinner
There is a lot that is implied and unspoken in this she’r. The poet has transgressed all his life but repented. The divine has accepted his repentance and he is treated with great dignity. This is a repeated theme among many shua’ra. mohammed iqbal …
motii samajh ke shaan-e kariimii ne chun liye
qatre jo the meray araq-e infe’aal ke
or vaseem Khairaabaadi …
qatre gire jo kuchh araq-e infe’aal ke
dariya bahaa diye karam-e zul-jalaal ke
Thus, seeing the dignity with which this sinner has been treated all the non-sinners regret that they did not make use of the opportunity to enjoy transgressions.
5
ahbaab¹ dil ko thaam ke baaliiN² se uTh gaye
baiTha gaya na soorat-e bimaar³ dekh kar   1.friends 2.head side of the bed (usually death bed) or tomb 3.sick (in love)
The lover is sick in love because the beloved has been indifferent. He is on his death bed and friends sitting at his bedside are so sorrowful upon seeing his face that they cannot bear to sit any longer and get up to leave, holding their hearts.
6
zindaan¹-e zauq² o shauq³ meN un ka aseer⁴-e ishq
chup chaap ho gaya dar-o-diivaar⁵ dekh kar   1.prison 2.taste 3.desire 4.captive 5.doors and walls
Here ‘dar-o-diivaar’-doors and walls imply confinement, a prison cell. The captive of love is the poet/lover. He is confined by his own taste and desire i.e., he cannot help but love and desire the beloved. Thus, he is metaphorically in a prison of his own making. Seeing this, he realizes that there is no escape and resigns himself to it.
7
bismil¹ bhi qatl-gaah² meN dam-bhar³ na ruk sake
chalti hui kisi ki voh talvaar dekh kar   1.pen-name of the poet, sacrificial animal 2.slaughter-house 3.for a moment
In urdu poetic tradition the beloved is sometimes portrayed as weilding a sharp sword to slaughter her admirers/lovers. Here, bismil, the pen-name of the poet, also means a sacrificial animal whose throat has just been slit. Immediately after this, for a few mintues the slaughtered animal is able to run amok before collapsing. Normally, lovers desire to be killed at the hands of the beloved and cheerfully approach her sword weilding. But here, it appears that they are all running away and could not tarry even for a minute, including the poet himself. But this is an ironic twist, given the meaning of his pen-name.