Click here for background and on any passage for word meanings and explanatory discussion. raghupati sahay firaq gorakhpuri (1896-1982) pre-eminent urdu shaa’er, scholar of farsi and sanskrit. Was nominated to Indian Civil Service but chose to participate in the freedom movement. After independence he chose an academic career, teaching English at Allahabad University. This is a part of series on “suKhanvar o suKhanvari” on the theme of what various shu’ara say about themselves, their verse, their mission and their place in history. Many other selections are nazm. For firaq I had to collect ash’aar from different Ghazal.
1
aane vaali nasleN¹ tum par faKhr² kareNgi ham-asro³
jab bhi un ko dhyaan aayega tum ne firaq ko dekha hai   1.generations 2.proud/envious 3.contemporaries
O, my contemporaries, coming generations will feel envious of you when they realize that you have seen/heard firaq.
2
aane vaali nasloN¹ ko kuchh naGhme² de kar uTh jaauNga
baar baar gaayeNge laikin, ji na bharega, ji na bharega    1.generation
I will bequeath a few songs/Ghazals to the coming generations and leave/die. They will sing again and again, but they they will not be satisfied, they will not be satisfied.
3
aati hai yahaaN meri baari ek martaba¹ ahd² ba ahd firaq
taqdir³-e zamiN o aasmaaN huN maiN, batn-e-geti⁴ se ubharta⁵ huN 1.once 2.age, period, era 3.(good) fortune 4.womb of the earth 5.rise
My turn to appear on earth comes but once in an era, O, firaq. I am the good fortune of the earth and sky, risen from the womb of the earth.
4
aye ahl-e-adab¹ aao ye jaagir² sanbhaalo
maiN mumlakat³-e lauh-o-qalam⁴ baaNT raha huN 1.literary people, people of literary taste 2.estate, fief, inheritance 3.territory, realm, wealth 4.pen and paper
O, people who appreciate verse, come and get your inheritance. I am giving away the wealth of pen and paper (my verse).
5
Khatm¹ hai mujh par Ghazal-goii²-e daur-e-haazir³
dene vaale ne vo andaaz-e-suKhan⁴ mujh ko diya 1.finish, complete, come to a climax 2.reciting Ghazal 3.present times 4.style of versification
The art of reciting Ghazal in the present times has come to a climax in me. The one who grants this art (god) has given me such a style of versification.
6
sun lo ke firaq aaj yahaaN garm-nava¹ hai
is daur² meN iqleem-e-suKhan³ ka vo shahanshaah 1.busy reciting 2.period, times 3.domain of verse
Listen, today firaq is busy reciting his verse here. He is emperor of the domain of versification of this age/era.
7
lafz¹-e firaq hai, ya karta hai
jag-mag jag-mag koii nageena²     1.word 2.gem
Are these words of firaq or sparkling gems!
8
meri guTThi¹ meN paRi thi ho ke hal² urdu zabaaN
jo bhi maiN kahta gaya husn-e-bayaaN³ banta gaya 1.birth sack 2.dissolved 3.beauty of/standard setting verse
urdu language was dissolved in my birth sack/fluid. Whatever I said/wrote kept being accepted as the new standard of versification.
9
aa, ke mahfil¹ meN firaq aaj nahiN naGhma-sara²
ja ke us ko bula laao ke kuchh raat kaTe    1.gathering 2.singing song/Ghazal
Someone is being called upon to come and help fetch firaq, who is not at this gathering reciting his Ghazal. Who is this someone? Surely, the beloved. Someone is being called upon to go fetch the beloved. Who is that someone? Is this the saaqi who has convened and is the host of the gathering. He does not say so explicitly.
10
zamaana¹ varedaat²-e qalb³ sun-ne ko tarasta⁴ hai
isi se to sar-aaNkhoN⁵ par mera diivaan⁶ lete haiN 1.period, times, world 2.stories 3.heart 4.thirsty 5.hold in high reverence 6.book of verse
The world is thirsty to hear stories of the heart. That is why they hold my book of verse in such high reverence.
11
firaq, she’r vo paRhna asar¹ meN Doobe hue
ke yaad mir² ke andaaz³ ki dila dena 1.effect, impact 2.mir taqi mir (1722-1810) pioneer of urdu Ghazal 3.style
O, firaq, recite ash’aar (couplets) soaked in such impact as to remind us of the style of mir taqi mir.
12
firaq, hum-navaa¹-e mir o Ghalib, ab naye naGhme
vo bazm²-e zindagi badli, vo bazm-e shaa’eri badla    1.same voice 2.gathering/society
O, firaq, you are of the same/similar voice (style/caliber?) as mir and Ghalib, but write/recite new Ghazal now for life has changed and style of verse has changed too.
13
sadqe¹ firaq ejaaz²-e suKhan³ ke, kaise uRa li ye aavaaz
in GhazloN ke parde meN to, miir ki GhazleN boleN haiN    .sacrificial offering, paying tribute 2.miracle 3.versification
Hiding behind the curtain/mask of these Ghazal, the poet/firaq is writing Ghazal like mir taqi mir. He is happy with it, and pays tribute to the miracle of versification.
14
naqsh-o-nigaar¹-e Ghazl meN jo tum ye shaadaabi² paao ho
hum ashkoN³ meN kaayenaat⁴ ke nok-e-qalam⁵ ko Dubo leN haiN 1.embellishments, adornment 2.freshness 3.tears 4.universe 5.point of the pen
You dip the point of the pen in ink to write. In this case the poet dips it in the tears of the universe i.e. he is writing about the sorrow of the deprived of the world. That is why you see a fresh adornment in his Ghazal.
15
ye udaas udaas, ye bujhi hui, koii zindagi hai firaq ki
magar aaj kisht¹-e suKhanvari² hai isi ke dam³ se chaman chaman      1.harvest 2.versification 3.strength, power
firaq had a very sorrowful personal life. His wife left him early on and their son died very young. firaq spend a semi-lonely life for forty years. The meaning of the word “isi” has a major impact and gives two very different interpretations of the she’r. If “isi” is taken to mean firaq himself, then … what a sorrowful, dark life firaq has had, but it is because of his power that we have a harvest of versification from every garden. If “isi” is taken to mean sorrow, then, it is the sorrow that inspires firaq to write such fruitful verse.