Click here for background and on any passage for word meanings and explanatory discussion. mirza asadullah KhaaN Ghalib (1797-1869). I dare not write any introduction. On more than one occasion Ghalib has warned his readers that he needs no introduction or even address. I humbly comply. kalidas gupta raza dates this Ghazal to 1816, when Ghalib was 19 years old. This is a complete version of the Ghazal taken from the compilation of kalidas gupta raza. Ghalib later edited out some of the ash’aar. Also see the many Ghazal composed in this bahr/zamin by well known and not so well-known poets over the years.
1
aaiina kyuN na duN keh tamaasha¹ kaheN jise
aisaa kahaaN se laa’uN keh tujh saa kaheN jise   1.display, spectacle, manifestation
The poet/admirer/suitor has looked all over but could not find anyone that equalled the beloved in beauty. Where can I find such an example. Therefore, why don’t I give you mirror, looking into which you will find such beauty that you would be stunned and it will cause spectacle. There is a mystical interpretation too. In such an interpretation “tamaasha” should be interpreted as “jalva-manifestation” and “aaiina” as a reflection of god, which can be the cosmos or the heart. Thus, to explain to everyone the glory of god, all I can present is the manifestation of his glory in the beauty of the cosmos or the reflection of god in my heart. I cannot bring to the table anyone like him.
2
hai intezaar¹ se sharar-aabaad² rastKhez³
mizshgaan⁴-e koh-kan⁵ rag⁶-e Khaara⁷ kaheN jise   1.waiting, anticipation 2.full of sparks, spark-raining 3.doomsday, tumult as on doomsday 4.eyelashes 5.stone mason, farhaad (shiriN-farhaad legend) 6.vein 7.granite, marble, hard rock
The eyelashes of farhaad are anxiously waiting. They are so anxious, the intensity of love is so high that his eyelashes are raining sparks, while his using his pickaxe/chisel to create a canal over the mountain. Thus, the parallelism between his anxious, tumultous eyes/eyelashes and veins of a rock. Both are raining sparks.
3
hasrat¹ ne laa rakha teri bazm²-e Khayaal³ meN
gul-dasta⁴-e nigaah⁵ savaidaa⁶ kaheN jise   1.longing 2.gathering 3.thought, imagination 4.bouquet 5.glances 6.pupil
The poet/suitor/admirer has been longing for a glance of the beloved. He has gathered all his failed glances and imagined the beloved’s gathering. His longing has brought this bouquet to the imaginary gathering and presented (in his imagination) to the beloved. This bouquet can also be likened to the pupil of his eye which is the source of all glances. Thus, he is placing his eyes at her feet.
4
kis fursat¹-e visaal² pe hai gul ko andaliib³
zaKhm-e firaaq⁴ Khanda⁵-e be-jaa⁶ kaheN jise   1.leisure, opportunity, freedom 2.union 3.bulbul, songbird 4.separation 5.smile 6.misplaced, mistaken, inappropriate
The bulbul and the rose are traditional lovers in urdu poetry. The flower picker and the bird catcher are the traditional villains who keep the lovers apart. There is never a union between them. Thus, the rose has had no opportunity for union with his beloved the bulbul. So, when it blooms, the opening up of its petals is like the cutting open of a wound of separation, which can be called an inappropriate smile, or which is inappropriately called a smile. We don’t really know what is going on in the heart of the rose. All we see is the ‘smile’.
5
darkaar¹ hai shaguftan²-e gul-haa³-e aish⁴ ko
sub’h-e bahaar⁵ pumba⁶-e miinaa⁷ kaheN jise    1.required 2.blossoming 3.roses 4.luxury, comfort, pleasure, love 5.spring 6.cotton ball, stopper, cork 7.flask, azure sky, azure/blue colour
In the context of seasons in India, spring is really the rainy season when everything begins to come to life and flowers bloom. It is also the season in which love blossoms and there is pleasure of drinking wine. Something is required for the blooming of the roses of pleasure or love. It could be the dawn of spring, which is likened to a cotton ball/stopper of a bottle of wine, with fluffy cotton like the rays of faint light at dawn. But this thought is juxtaposed with a wine bottle, which in itself can be the pleasure that he is seeking.
6
phooNka¹ hai kis ne gosh²-e mohabbat meN aye Khuda
afsoon³-e intezaar⁴ tamanna⁵ kaheN jise     1.whisper, blow (afer reading some prayer/incantation) 2.ear 3.magical spell, enchantment 4.waiting, anticipation 5.desire, longing
O god, someone has read out a prayer/incantation and blown into the ear of love, creating a magic spell that is causing it to anticipate union (afsoon-e intezaar) with the beloved. This is what is called ‘desire/longing’. Absent this magical spell, love would have no expectation of any reciprocal feeling. The lover would love regardless and this is the purer form of love. This is similar to the feeling in ‘dozaKh meN Daal do koii le kar behisht ko’.
7
yaarab¹ hameN to Khwaab meN bhi mat dikhaa’iyo
ye mahshar²-e Khayaal³ keh duniya kaheN jise    1.O lord 2.doomsday, tumult, frightening 3.thought, imagination, unreal
This world is an illusion, it is unreal and frightening. Here ‘mahshar-e Khayaal’ is like maaya. The spiritual world is real and blissful. Therefore, O lord, don’t show it to me even in a dream.
8
sar par hujoom¹-e dard²-e Ghariibi³ se Daaliye
vo ek musht⁴-e Khaak⁵ keh sahra⁶ kaheN jise     1.crowding, onslaught 2.pain, sorrow 3.being away from home, exile 4.fistful 5.dust 6.desert
They call it a desert, but to Ghalib it is nothing more than a fistful dust. After all,
‘hota hai nehaaN gard meN sehra mere hote
ghista hai jabiN Khaak pe dariya mere aage’
There has been an onslaught of sorrow on him. It is the sorrow of being away from home – from the spiritual world (which is his home) to the material world (which is exile). To match the size of his sorrows he needs that one fistful of dust that is called a desert, to throw on his head (sar pe Khaak Daalna is an expression for distress).
9
hai chashm-e-tar¹ meN hasrat²-e diidaar³ se nehaaN⁴
shauq⁵-e inaaN-guseKhta⁶ dariya⁷ kaheN jise   1.teary eyes 2.longing, desire 3.sight 4.hidden 5.desire, frenzy of love 6.broken reins, unbridled, wild running horse 7.river
Here “nehaaN-hidden” is probably used in the sense of controlled now but waiting to burst forth. The eye is teary, there is a longing to see the beloved. Hidden behind the teary eye is desire rearing to burst forth and flow like an uncontrolled (like an unbridled horse) river.
10
Ghalib bura na maan jo vaa’ez¹ bura kahe
aisa bhi koi hai keh sab achchha kaheN jise   1.preacher
O Ghalib, do not be offended/feel bad if the preacher critcizes you. Is there anyone whom, everyone considers good. The preacher also falls in the same category of being called bad by someone or the other. So, why worry about what he says i.e. this orthodoxy should be ignored.