Click here for background and on any passage for word meanings and explanatory discussion. naresh kumar shaad (1927-1969) prolific poet, writer, translater. Member Progressive Writers’ Association. Socialist/Communist. Educated and worked in rawalpindi and lahore before partition and then moved to India. This is probably a reflection of what the PWA asked poets/writers to do … write less about the beloved and more about social justice. It is modeled beautifully after Ghalib’s “saaqi ne kuchh mila na diya ho sharaab meN”, with a variation in the theme. Ghalib’s influence over poets, both renowned and not so well known poets, is profound.
1
maiN huN vo naamuraad¹ jahaan-e-Kharaab² meN
jis ne kiya shabaab³ ka maatam⁴ shabaab meN    1.unfortunate 2.unjust/wretched world 3.youth 4.mourn
I am that unfortunate, who in this wretched world, has mourned for his youth during his youth.
2
aye shaiKh! hum se baada-kashaan¹-e shikasta-dil²
piite haiN aaNsuoN ko mila kar sharaab meN     1.wine lovers, (excessive) wine drinkers 2.broken hearted
I am not sure why this is addressed to the shaiKh/preacher, but I will speculate. Broken hearted wine lovers like us, drink our wine after mixing it with tears. This could mean that they are crying while drinking, and this crying somehow entitles them to forgiveness. Hence, it is addressed to the shaiKh. Or, perhaps the wine is so diluted with tears that it does not deserve to be classified as sin.
3
mahsoos¹ ho bhi jaaye to hota nahiN bayaaN²
naazuk³ sa farq⁴ hai jo gunaah⁵ o savaab⁶ meN    1.feel, intuitively know 2.describe 3.delicate, subtle 4.difference 5.sin 6.virtue
There is just a subtle difference between sin and virtue. Even if you intuitively feel it, it cannot be described. See for example how pannalal srivastav noor treats the same theme in a Ghazal of the same zamin …
maikash ko jaan baKhsh di saaqi ne de ke jaam
ab kiijiye tameez gunaah o savaab meN
The cup-bearer saved the life of the drunk by giving him a cup of wine
Now differentiate (if you can) between sin and virtue
4
mahshar¹ meN aap vaaq’eii² hoNge to roz-e-hashr³
tabdiil⁴ kyuN na hoga shab-e-maahtaab⁵ meN   1.doomsday 2.truly 3.day of judgement 4.change, morph 5.full moon night
In the poetic tradition every creature will be present before god on doomsday. Disappointed lovers will get a chance to related their tales of woe complaining of the beloved’s cruelty. The poet turns this around saying – if you (O, beloved) are truly present on doomsday (normally imagined as a catastrophe), then why would this day of judgement not morph into a (pleasant) moonlit night.
5
un zaahidoN¹ ka zohd² taqaaza³ hai umr⁴ ka
varna⁵ ye hum se kam to nahiN the shabaab⁶ meN   1.observant, pious 2.peity 3.demand 4.(old) age 5.otherwise 6.youth
The piety of the pious is the demand of old age (they can no longer indulge). Otherwise, they were no less than us (in sinning, indulging) during their youth.
6
rahmat¹ ne mera jazba²-e eKhlaas³ dekh kar
saare gunaah⁴ kar diye shaamil⁵ savaab⁶ meN    1.benevolence, kindness, god 2.sentiment, emotion 3.sincerity in love/friendship 4.sin 5.include 6.virtue
The prevailing story is that on the day of judgement everyone will be presented before god and the lists of their sins and virtues will be read out. The poet’s list of sins was (obviously) long and he might have been condemned to hell. But the benevolent god looked at the sincerity of his love and moved the list of sins to the list of virtues.
7
dil meN hujoom¹-e shauq² ka aalam³ na poochhiye
toofaan mauj-zan⁴ hai zara se habaab⁵ meN    1.crowd, multitude 2.desire, love, passion 3.condition 4.making waves 4.bubble
The heart is but an insignificant bubble, but such a multitude of passions well up in it that there is storm making huge waves in it.
8
us vaqt tak havaas¹ meN kya maiN nahiN raha
jab tak kisi ka husn² raha hai naqaab³ meN   1.senses, sobriety 2.beauty 3.veil
Was I not sober until the moment that the beauty of someone (the beloved) was veiled!
9
ehsaas¹ ka vo raqs² ke masti³ kaheN jise
ya aap ki nigaah⁴ meN hai ya sharaab meN    1.feelings, emotions, passion 2.dance 3.intoxication, trance 4.glance
The dance of passion (like the whirling of the dervish) that might be called intoxication/trance is only one of two places … the beloved’s glance or in wine.
10
aye shaad¹ zindagi meN jinheN koii Gham nahiN
vo bhi to Khush nahiN haiN jahaan-e-Kharaab² meN   1.pen-name of the poet, also means – happy 2.here used to mean acquisitive world, rat-race world
O, shaad, even those who have had no sorrow/grief in this life, even they are not happy in this rat-race.