Click here for background and on any passage for word meanings and explanatory discussion. kaleem ahmed aajiz (1924-2015) writer, poet, academician, recipient of padma shri, taught urdu at paTna university. He has written powerfully and with much feeling about communal harmony in India as well as other political themes. He considers himself a successor of mir taqi mir, composing in his style. This Ghazal is linked to other ham-radeef Ghazal on the Refrain Index page.
1
meraa haal¹ puuchh ke ham-nashiiN² mere soz³-e dil ko havaa na de
bas yahi du’aa maiN karuuN huN ab keh yeh Gham kisi ko Khudaa na de    1.condition, well-being 2.confidant, friend 3.fire, pain, passion
The poet has a burning pain in his heart. He has not defined what that pain is. It could be the pain of unrequited love, or the pain/passion to compose poetry. ‘havaa dena’ literally means to give air … like blowing on embers to increase the flame. Figuratively, it means increase the pain or passion. Thus, O friend, do not ask about my well-being because this only increases my pain. My sincere prayer now is only that may god not afflict anyone else with this kind of pain.
2
yeh jo zaKhm¹-e dil ko pakaa’e² ham liye phir rahe haiN chhupaa’e ham
koi naa-shanaas³-e mizaaj⁴-e Gham kahiN haath uss ko lagaa na de    1.wound 2.festering, maturation 3.unfamiliar, insensitive 4.nature, temperament
The poet carries a festering wound in his heart, hiding it from others. He does not define what this wound is due to. We have to fill in the gap. He is afraid that someone who is unfamiliar with the nature of such a wound might ‘touch’ it i.e., their unfamiliarity may lead to insensitivity and they might make light of it, make fun of it or dismiss it.
3
tu jahaaN¹ se aaj hai nukta-chiiN² kabhi muddatoN³ maiN rahaa vahiN
maiN gadaa⁴-e raahguzar⁵ nahiN mujhe duur hi se sadaa⁶ na de     1.where, place 2.critic 3.long time, ages 4.beggar, mendicant 5.roadside 6.call
The poet addresses his critic. This could be someone who is critical of his poetry or critical of his passion. He suggests that the place where the critic is i.e., the perspective that the critic holds is very familiar to the poet. He himself has spent ages in such a place. He is an expert in the field. He asserts, I am no roadside mendicant, I am a person of substance/skill, do not just call me from a distance i.e., do not judge me from afar, superficially, without understanding the full meaning of what I say.
4
tab-o-taab¹-e ishq kaa hai karam² keh jami³ hai mahfil⁴-e chashm-e-nam⁵
zaraa dekhiyo aye havaa-e Gham ye charaaGh koi bujhaa na de     1.splendour, dazzle 2.blessing, kindness 3.seated, arranged 4.gathering 5.moist/tearful eye
It is the kindness of the splendour of love/passion that a gathering has been arranged and that it is tearful/emotional. The imagery is a gathering which is hearing the poet recite and pour out his heart/love/passion in his poetry. The gathering is affected by his poetry and is teary-eyed. He considers this to be a blessing of his passion and calls upon the ‘wind of sorrow’ to be careful that no one blows out his candle. The ‘wind of sorrow’ could be a critic’s words, the indifference of the audience or something else. The candle is the flame of his passion. He wants to protect it.
5
voh jo shaa’eri kaa sabab¹ huaa voh mu’aamla² bhi ‘ajab³ huaa
maiN Ghazal sunaauuN huN is liye keh zamaana⁴ uss ko bhulaa na de     1.cause, basis, inspiration 2.affair, matter, incident 3.strange, mysterious 4.world
Central to the poet’s thinking is the mysterious inspiration of the affair of writing poetry. It is so central that he reads his Ghazal so that the world may never forget that which inspires poetry. What is it? It remains mysterious.