Click here for background and on any passage for word meanings and explanatory discussion. heera lal falak dehlavi (1920?-1982+?). I can only make an educated guess about his birth and death. A collection of his Ghazal was published posthumously in 1982 by his shaagird. The book mentions beKhud dehlavi (1863-1955) as his ‘inspirational ustaad’ and dedicates it to him. He was a minor official in the dehli court system. In the book he describes his encounter with beKhud dehlavi when he (falak) was still a young man. The book says that he started composing in 1940. He has several Ghazal composed in the zamin of Ghalib, this one of a series linked to the corresponding radeef in ‘Ghalib naqsh-e qadam’.
1
dard-e dil kam na hua soz¹-e jigar² hone tak
mar miTe ham shab³-e furqat⁴ ki sahar⁵ hone tak   1.fire, pain, passion 2.liver 3.night of 4.separation 5.dawn
In urdu poetic tradition the heart is the seat of emotions and jigar is seat of forbearance and strength of character. ‘soz-e jigar hona’ is the liver being set of fire. It is on fire/in great pain because it is bearing the pain of the heart – dard-e dil, the pain of love. Thus, the pain of love did not come under control until the liver stepped in with courage and forbearance. By the time the night of separation ended with dawn, the poet/lover writhed in pain. ‘mar miTe’ does not mean die. It is an expression to mean intense pain with a ‘near death’ experience with a willingness to sacrifice oneself at the altar of the beloved.
2
irteqa¹ jaane vahi qatra²-e abr³-e niisaaN⁴
band rahta hai sadaf⁵ meN jo gohar⁶ hone tak    1.progress 2.drop 3.cloud 4.early spring rain 5.shell 6.pearl
There is folklore that has become a part of the urdu poetic tradition that there are special rain drops in early spring that can survive many obstacles, retain their identity until they reach the right shell. The shell takes them in and closes and eventually the drop becomes a pearl. Thus, only that drop of rain of early spring clouds that reaches and remains shut in a shell until it is changed to a pearl knows/experiences progress. Said Ghalib ….
daam-e har mauj meN hai halqah-e sad kaam-e nihaNg
dekheN kyaa guzre hai qatre pe gohar hone tak
3
raushni¹ tez² karo chaand sitaaro apni
mujh ko manzil³ pe pahuNchna hai sahar⁴ hone tak    1.brilliance, light 2.sharpen, increase 3.destination 4.dawn
The poet/seeker is on a journey through the dark night and has to reach his destination before dawn. He calls upon the moon and stars to sharpen their brilliance to help him along. I am not sure what this implies beyond this literal translation.
4
dil ho barbaad¹-e mohabbat to samajhiya aabaad²
tuKhm³ paamaal⁴ hi rahta hai shajar⁵ hone tak    1.destroyed, desolate, sorrowful 2.prosperous 3.seed 4.trampled underfoot 5.tree
If the heart is sorrowful in love, then consider it prosperous i.e., the pain of love is of great value. This is just like a seed which is trampled underfoot before germinating and growing into a tree.
5
laakh parvaane¹ dikhaayegi jalaa kar mujh ko
sham’a² Khaamosh³ rahegi na sahar⁴ hone tak    1.moths 2.lamp 3.silent 4.dawn
In urdu poetic convention the lamp and the moth are lovers. The moth keeps circling the lamp in love of it and ultimately gets burnt to death. The melting wax of a candle is sometimes represented as tears of sorrow. But here the poet seems to be presenting the candle as a cruel beloved. It will show me how it can burn hundreds of thousands of moths, the lamp will not be ‘silent/inactive’ until dawn i.e., it will burn all night long and continue its act of cruelty. I am not really sure what the poet means beyond this literal translation. Perhaps simply presenting the beloved as cruel.
6
hasti¹ kuchh aur hai, kuchh aur sha’oor²-e hasti
guzri³ ek umr⁴ hameN apni Khabar⁵ hone tak    1.existence, living 2.wisdom 3.passed 4.lifetime 5.awareness, knowledge
Knowledge of self is considered a high value. A lifetime passes before we can understand ourselves. Mere existence is one thing, understanding the wisdom/purpose of life is another.
7
un pe kuchh zor¹ na taqdiir² pe qaabuu³ aye dil
sabr⁴ kar paida⁵ mohabbat meN asar⁶ hone tak   1.power 2.fate 3.control 4.patience 5.create, develop 6.effect, impact
O heart, you have no power (of persuasion) over the beloved nor do you have any control of your destiny. Your only option is to develop patience until your love has an effect.
8
kaun jaane keh isi Khaak-ke-putle¹ ne falak²
kis qadar³ fitne⁴ uThaaye haiN bashar⁵ hone tak    1.idol of clay, human 2.pen-name of the poet, sky 3.so much 4.mischief 5.human
It is generally considered that humans were ‘created’ from clay. This is reflected in calling humans “Khaak ke putle”. Further, there is an implication that the first Khaak ka putla is less than human, does not quite have the spirit of ‘human-ness’. Who knows how much mischief he raised before becoming human. Said Ghalib …
baskih dushvaar hai har kaam kaa aasaaN honaa
aadmii ko bhii muyassar nahiiN insaaN honaa