For word meanings and explanatory discussion in English click on the tabs marked “Roman” or “Notes”.
Recitation
شوخ کی تعزیر کا ۔ منشی نوبت راے نظرؔ لکھنوی
۱
خوگرِ لذت ہوں میں کس شوخ کی تعزیر کا
دل کو حسرت ہے کہ پہلو ڈھونڈیے تقصیر کا
۲
تھا مرا ہنگامۂ وحشت ازل سے پیشتر
عرش کی زنجیر ٹُکڑا ہے مری زنجیر کا
۳
مر گیا زنداں میں جب میں وحشیِ آتش نفس
بجھ گیا شعلہ چراغِ خانۂ زنجیر کا
۴
سخت جانی سے دلِ مضطر جو تڑپا وقتِ قتل
بن گیا سنگِ فساں قاتل تری شمشیر کا
۵
ہو کے بسمل آرزوئے گفتگو قاتل سے ہے
ہر دہانِ زخم نقشہ ہے لبِ تقریر کا
۶
اتنی ہے مشقِ تصوّر انتظارِ قتل میں
مردُمک ہے آنکھ میں جوہر تری شمشیر کا
۷
جان کر ٹھنڈی ہوا وہ چین سے سوتے تو ہیں
دم بھروں کیوں کر نہ آہِ سردِ بے تاثیر کا
۸
ہوتا ہے انسان پیدا واسطے فریاد کے
یہ اشارہ ہے سریرِ خامۂ تحریر کا
۹
روح آ جاتی ہے تن میں تیغِ عریاں دیکھ کر
مرغِ جاں بلبل ہے باغِ جوہرِ شمشیر کا
۱۰
آج تک آواز آتی ہے دہانِ گور سے
ہے یہ مدفن کشتۂ تیغِ لبِ تقریر کا
۱۱
اور دونا غم اٹھایا کی مٹانے کی جو فکر
داغِ حسرت ہو گیا لکھا مری تقدیر کا
۱۲
رفتہ رفتہ یوں گُھلایا قید میں غم نے نظرؔ
طوق گردن پاؤں میں حلقہ بنا زنجیر کا
शूख़ की ता’ज़ीर का – मुंशी नौबर राय नज़र लख्नवी
१
ख़ूगर-ए लज़्ज़त हूँ मैं किस शूख़ की ता’ज़ीर का
दिल को हस्रत है के पहलू ढूँडिए तक़्सीर का
२
था मेरा हंगामा-ए वहशत अज़ल से पेश्तर
अर्श की ज़ंजीर टुकड़ा है मेरी ज़ंजीर का
३
मर गया ज़िंदाँ में जब मैं वहशी-ए आतिश-नफ़स
बुझ गया शो’ला चराग़-ए ख़ाना-ए ज़ंजीर का
४
सख़्त-जानी से दिल-ए मुज़्तर जो तड़पा वक़्त-ए क़त्ल
बन गया संग-ए फ़साँ क़ातिल तेरी शमशीर का
५
हो के बिस्मिल आर्ज़ू-ए गुफ़्तगू क़ातिल से है
हर दहान-ए ज़ख़्म नक़्शा है लब-ए तक़्रीर का
६
इतनी है मश्क़-ए तसव्वुर इंतज़ार-ए क़त्ल में
मर्दुमक है आँख में जौहर तेरी शमशीर का
७
जान कर ठंडी हवा वो चैन से सोते तो हैं
दम भरूँ क्यूँ-कर न आह-ए सर्द-ए बे-तासीर का
८
होता है इंसान पैदा वास्ते फ़र्याद के
ये इशारा है सरीर-ए ख़ामा-ए तहरीर का
९
रूह आ जाती है तन में तेग़-ए उर्यां देख कर
मुर्ग़-ए जाँ बुल्बुल है बाग़-ए जौहर-ए शमशीर का
१०
आज तक आवाज़ आती है दहान-ए गोर से
है ये मद्फ़न कुश्ता-ए तेग़-ए लब-ए तक़्रीर का
११
और दूना ग़म उठाया, की मिटाने की जो फ़िक्र
दाग़-ए हस्रत हो गया लिक्खा मेरी तक़्दीर का
१२
रफ़्ता रफ़्ता यूँ घुलाया क़ैद में ग़म ने नज़र
तौक़-ए गर्दन पाँव में हल्क़ा बना ज़ंजीर का
Click here for background and on any passage for word meanings and explanatory discussion. munshi naubat rai nazar lakhnavi (1864-1923), lukhnow. Well recognized poet with a published diivaan and the editor of several literary magazines including adeeb. He has several Ghazal modeled after Ghalib, with this one after ‘naqsh faryaadi hai kis ki shooKhi-e tahriir ka’. I date this Ghazal to 1897, marking Ghalib’s birth centennial.
1
Khuugar1-e lazzat2 huN maiN kis shooKh3 ki taa’ziir4 ka
dil ko hasrat5 hai ke pahlu6 DhuNDiye taqsiir7 ka 1.habituated, used to 2.pleasure 3.mischievous 4.punishment 5.yearning 6.side, embrace 7.transgression, sin
The “shooKh” – mischievous here is the beloved. The poet/lover has gotten used to, habituated to the pleasure of the punishment meted out to him by the beloved. So much so, that his heart yearns for the embrace of transgression/offense so that the beloved may punish him.
2
tha mera haNgaama1-e vahshat2 azal3 se peshtar4
arsh5 ki zanjiir TukRaa hai meri zanjiir ka 1.tumult, confusion 2.madness, frenzy 3.beginning (of creation) 4.before 5.sky
The poet/lover ran around confused in a frenzy of love from before the time of creation. Therefore, he was chained like a mad man. Today, the “chain of the sky” is but a part of the chain that had been used to restrain him. Here “chain of the sky” might mean the chain of stars in the sky, an exaggerated imagery often used in verse.
3
mar gayaa zindaaN1 meN jab maiN vahshi2-e aatish-nafas3
bujh gayaa sho’la4 charaaGh5-e Khaana6-e zanjiir ka 1.prison 2.mad, wild 3.fire breathing 4.flame 5.lamp, candle 6.heart
The link of the chain is described as the ‘heart of the chain’. Each link of the chain that was used to restrain this mad passionate lover carried a flame/lamp because of his fiery breath. But now that he is dead, the lamp is put out. Putting out lamp of the heart is like mourning. Thus, even the chain mourns his passing.
4
saKht-jaani1 se dil-e muztar2 jo taRpaa vaqt-e qatl3
ban gayaa saNg-e-fasaaN4 qaatil5 teri shamshiir6 ka 1.hard to kill 2.restless 3.execution, killing 4.whetstone, grinding wheel for sharpening 5.killer, beloved 6.sword
The imagery is of the beloved trying to kill the poet/lover by plunging a sword through his heart. But he is hard to kill (perhaps shameless) and his heart is so restless that it acts like a grinding wheel to sharpen the sword. Perhaps he was hard to kill because the sword was dull. But the poet/lover values being killed at the hands of the beloved so much that his restless, throbbing heart sharpens the sword to make sure that the job is finished.
5
ho ke bismil1 aarzu2-e guftagu3 qaatil4 se hai
har dahaan5-e zaKhm6 naqsha7 hai lab8-e taqriir9 ka 1.slaughtered animal 2.desire 3.conversation 4.killer, beloved 5.mouth 6.wound, cut 7.picture 8.lips, mouth 9.speaking, conversation
Even after being slaughtered the poet/lover is yearning for conversing with the beloved. That is why every cut she has made on his body is the picture of a mouth eager to speak.
6
itni hai mashq1-e tasavvur2 intezaar3-e qatl4 meN
mardumak5 hai aaNkh meN jauhar6 teri shamshiir7 ka 1.repeatedly doing something, practice 2.imagination 3.waiting, anticipating, eagerness 4.killing, slaughter 5.pupil 6.sharp edge, shine, brilliance 7.sword
The poet lover is eager to be slaughtered by the beloved. He imagines the scene again and again, so much so that the reflection/shine of her sword gets embedded/becomes a part of the pupil of his eye.
7
jaan kar ThanDi havaa vo chain se sote to haiN
dam1 bharuN kyuNkar na aah2-e sard3-e be-taasiir4 ka 1.dam bharna is to make stronger, blow air into 2.sigh 3.cold 4.ineffective
The poet/lover sighs in sorrow. A sorrowful sigh is cold/cool. Also, his sighing has no effect on the beloved. She thinks that it is a cool breeze and sleeps comfortably. The poet/lover is talking to himself, why should I not sigh much more even though my sighing is ineffective.
8
hota hai insaan paidaa vaaste1 fariyaad2 ke
ye ishaara3 hai sarir4-e Khaama5-e tahriir6 ka 1.for the purpose of 2.appeal, beg 3.indication, hint 4.scraping sound 5.pen 6.writing
This has echoes of Ghalib’s “Ghalib sariir-e Khaama navaa-e sarosh hai” – O, Ghalib, the scraping sound of my pen is like the sound (of the wings) of an angel (coming with a heavenly message). Here the poet thinks that humans were created to beg/pray. This message is given in the scraping sound of the pen writing humanity’s fate.
9
ruuh1 aa jaati hai tan2 meN teGh3-e uryaaN4 dekh kar
murGh5-e jaaN6 bulbul hai baaGh-e jauhar7-e shamshiir8 ka 1.soul, life 2.body 3.sword 4.naked 5.bird 6.life, soul 7.brilliance 8.sword
The poet/lover is eager to be slaughtered by the beloved. Normally he is sad and listless. But the moment he sees her sword drawn out of the scabbard (naked), he comes to life in anticipation. It is as if the bird of his life is like a bulbul and the brilliance/sharpness of the sword is like flowers of the garden. Of course, the bulbul is in love with the rose and sings to it. The eagerness of the poet/lover is just like that.
10
aaj tak aavaaz aati hai dahaan1-e gor2 se
hai ye madfan3 kushta4-e teGh5-e lab-e-taqriir6 ka 1.mouth 2.grave 3.tomb 4.victim, slain by 5.sword 6.lips of speech i.e. words of the beloved
To this day, there emerges a sound from the grave saying – this is the tomb of the victim of cruel words of the beloved, which cut him like a sword.
11
aur duunaa1 Gham uThaayaa kii2 miTaane3 ki jo fikr4
daaGh5-e hasrat6 ho gayaa likkhaa meri taqdiir7 ka 1.double 2.did 3.erase 4.worry, effort 5.wound, scar 6.yearning 7.fate
When the poet/lover thought of/worried about/tried to erase his pain (of love) it doubled instead. The scar/wound of yearning got written into his fate i.e. he should have valued the pain and nurtured it rather than try to erase it.
12
rafta rafta1 yuN ghulaaya2 qaid3 meN Gham ne nazar4
tauq5-e gardan paaNv meN halqa6 banaa zanjiir ka 1.gradually 2.melted, dissolved 3.bondage 4.pen-name of the poet 5.manacles, neck chain 6.circle
The poet/lover paints an exaggerated image of what happened to him in bondage of love. He had a chain around his neck, but the pain of love gradually dissolved his body so much so that neck chain descended to the feet and became a circle around his feet!
munshi naubat rai nazar lakhnavi (1864-1923), lukhnow. Well recognized poet with a published diivaan and the editor of several literary magazines including adeeb. He has several Ghazal modeled after Ghalib, with this one after ‘naqsh faryaadi hai kis ki shooKhi-e tahriir ka’. I date this Ghazal to 1897, marking Ghalib’s birth centennial.
1
Khuugar1-e lazzat2 huN maiN kis shooKh3 ki taa’ziir4 ka
dil ko hasrat5 hai ke pahlu6 DhuNDiye taqsiir7 ka
1.habituated, used to 2.pleasure 3.mischievous 4.punishment 5.yearning 6.side, embrace 7.transgression, sin
The “shooKh” – mischievous here is the beloved. The poet/lover has gotten used to, habituated to the pleasure of the punishment meted out to him by the beloved. So much so, that his heart yearns for the embrace of transgression/offense so that the beloved may punish him.
2
tha mera haNgaama1-e vahshat2 azal3 se peshtar4
arsh5 ki zanjiir TukRaa hai meri zanjiir ka
1.tumult, confusion 2.madness, frenzy 3.beginning (of creation) 4.before 5.sky
The poet/lover ran around confused in a frenzy of love from before the time of creation. Therefore, he was chained like a mad man. Today, the “chain of the sky” is but a part of the chain that had been used to restrain him. Here “chain of the sky” might mean the chain of stars in the sky, an exaggerated imagery often used in verse.
3
mar gayaa zindaaN1 meN jab maiN vahshi2-e aatish-nafas3
bujh gayaa sho’la4 charaaGh5-e Khaana6-e zanjiir ka
1.prison 2.mad, wild 3.fire breathing 4.flame 5.lamp, candle 6.heart
The link of the chain is described as the ‘heart of the chain’. Each link of the chain that was used to restrain this mad passionate lover carried a flame/lamp because of his fiery breath. But now that he is dead, the lamp is put out. Putting out lamp of the heart is like mourning. Thus, even the chain mourns his passing.
4
saKht-jaani1 se dil-e muztar2 jo taRpaa vaqt-e qatl3
ban gayaa saNg-e-fasaaN4 qaatil5 teri shamshiir6 ka
1.hard to kill 2.restless 3.execution, killing 4.whetstone, grinding wheel for sharpening 5.killer, beloved 6.sword
The imagery is of the beloved trying to kill the poet/lover by plunging a sword through his heart. But he is hard to kill (perhaps shameless) and his heart is so restless that it acts like a grinding wheel to sharpen the sword. Perhaps he was hard to kill because the sword was dull. But the poet/lover values being killed at the hands of the beloved so much that his restless, throbbing heart sharpens the sword to make sure that the job is finished.
5
ho ke bismil1 aarzu2-e guftagu3 qaatil4 se hai
har dahaan5-e zaKhm6 naqsha7 hai lab8-e taqriir9 ka
1.slaughtered animal 2.desire 3.conversation 4.killer, beloved 5.mouth 6.wound, cut 7.picture 8.lips, mouth 9.speaking, conversation
Even after being slaughtered the poet/lover is yearning for conversing with the beloved. That is why every cut she has made on his body is the picture of a mouth eager to speak.
6
itni hai mashq1-e tasavvur2 intezaar3-e qatl4 meN
mardumak5 hai aaNkh meN jauhar6 teri shamshiir7 ka
1.repeatedly doing something, practice 2.imagination 3.waiting, anticipating, eagerness 4.killing, slaughter 5.pupil 6.sharp edge, shine, brilliance 7.sword
The poet lover is eager to be slaughtered by the beloved. He imagines the scene again and again, so much so that the reflection/shine of her sword gets embedded/becomes a part of the pupil of his eye.
7
jaan kar ThanDi havaa vo chain se sote to haiN
dam1 bharuN kyuNkar na aah2-e sard3-e be-taasiir4 ka
1.dam bharna is to make stronger, blow air into 2.sigh 3.cold 4.ineffective
The poet/lover sighs in sorrow. A sorrowful sigh is cold/cool. Also, his sighing has no effect on the beloved. She thinks that it is a cool breeze and sleeps comfortably. The poet/lover is talking to himself, why should I not sigh much more even though my sighing is ineffective.
8
hota hai insaan paidaa vaaste1 fariyaad2 ke
ye ishaara3 hai sarir4-e Khaama5-e tahriir6 ka
1.for the purpose of 2.appeal, beg 3.indication, hint 4.scraping sound 5.pen 6.writing
This has echoes of Ghalib’s “Ghalib sariir-e Khaama navaa-e sarosh hai” – O, Ghalib, the scraping sound of my pen is like the sound (of the wings) of an angel (coming with a heavenly message). Here the poet thinks that humans were created to beg/pray. This message is given in the scraping sound of the pen writing humanity’s fate.
9
ruuh1 aa jaati hai tan2 meN teGh3-e uryaaN4 dekh kar
murGh5-e jaaN6 bulbul hai baaGh-e jauhar7-e shamshiir8 ka
1.soul, life 2.body 3.sword 4.naked 5.bird 6.life, soul 7.brilliance 8.sword
The poet/lover is eager to be slaughtered by the beloved. Normally he is sad and listless. But the moment he sees her sword drawn out of the scabbard (naked), he comes to life in anticipation. It is as if the bird of his life is like a bulbul and the brilliance/sharpness of the sword is like flowers of the garden. Of course, the bulbul is in love with the rose and sings to it. The eagerness of the poet/lover is just like that.
10
aaj tak aavaaz aati hai dahaan1-e gor2 se
hai ye madfan3 kushta4-e teGh5-e lab-e-taqriir6 ka
1.mouth 2.grave 3.tomb 4.victim, slain by 5.sword 6.lips of speech i.e. words of the beloved
To this day, there emerges a sound from the grave saying – this is the tomb of the victim of cruel words of the beloved, which cut him like a sword.
11
aur duunaa1 Gham uThaayaa kii2 miTaane3 ki jo fikr4
daaGh5-e hasrat6 ho gayaa likkhaa meri taqdiir7 ka
1.double 2.did 3.erase 4.worry, effort 5.wound, scar 6.yearning 7.fate
When the poet/lover thought of/worried about/tried to erase his pain (of love) it doubled instead. The scar/wound of yearning got written into his fate i.e. he should have valued the pain and nurtured it rather than try to erase it.
12
rafta rafta1 yuN ghulaaya2 qaid3 meN Gham ne nazar4
tauq5-e gardan paaNv meN halqa6 banaa zanjiir ka
1.gradually 2.melted, dissolved 3.bondage 4.pen-name of the poet 5.manacles, neck chain 6.circle
The poet/lover paints an exaggerated image of what happened to him in bondage of love. He had a chain around his neck, but the pain of love gradually dissolved his body so much so that neck chain descended to the feet and became a circle around his feet!
