rahiye ab aisi jagah chal kar jahaan koi na ho
hamsukhaan koi na ho aur hamzabaan koi na ho
Line 1/2 - It is time now to go and live in such a place where there is no one else around. Where there is no one that would speak with us or no one who knows our language. The poet says it time now to leave this place and go somewhere where no one is around. Where no one shares a conversation with him or shares the common language. All the ones I have ever been with.. my friends, my lovers, my neighbors, any ones who talks to us, anyone who even shares the same speech.. I want to leave all of them behind for all I have got from them is grief and uncomfortable questions. I want to go to a place where I have no one to talk to.
be dar-o-dewaar sa ek ghar banaayaa chahiye
koi hamsaayah na ho aur paasbaan koi na ho
Line 3/4 - Without doors and walls, such one house should be constructed. There be no neighbors and no gatekeeper as well. Lets go to a place where there is no one around, and in this place lets have a house without walls and doors and where there is no need for a gatekeeper and no neighbors around. Another interpretation of it being in such a house, there would be no need for a gatekeeper for there is no door and no neighbors for there are no walls.
pariye gar bemaar toh koi na ho timardaar
aur agar mar jaaiye to nauhakhawan koi na ho
Line 5/6 - If I were to fall sick, there should be no one to look after me (to nurse me back to health). And If I were to die, there would be no lament-reciter there. Continuing with the same theme of isolation and alienation from friends, colleagues and neighbors around him. The poet says if he were to fall ill, he would not like to have someone to look after him and no lament-singers in his funeral if I were to die. All my life I had wanted to stay away from them. I have made my home far from away them. In sickness and death, I will be in peace in my isolation.
Meaning of difficult words
hamsukhaan - sharing a speech
hamzaban - sharing the same language
hamsaayah - neighbours
paasbaan - gatekeeper
timardar - caretaker
nauhakhawan - lament-reciter
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Translation - Ghalib Bura Na Maan Jo Waaiz Bura Kahe (Ghalib)
aaina kyun na doon ke tamasha kahen jise
aisa kahan se laaun ke tujhsa kahein jise
Line 1/2 - Why would not I offer a mirror, that it becomes a spectacle. From where do I bring, that they say it just like you. The poet says why would I not offer a mirror to the beloved. I putting it in front of her and she looking into it with those haughty glances would cause an uproar all around. The gallery would run amok at the sight of this. From where would I bring another such elegant face, that they say she looks 'like her'. Consider an alternate setting. The beloved is in veil and the only way to see her face is indirectly in a mirror. The lover says why would I not offer her a mirror. That is the only way to appreciate the beauty of the beloved. But once everyone see her in the mirror, there is tumult in the gathering on account of her glances. The audience now wants to see the beloved, except they can't. Where would I get another such beautiful face that looks like her so that the gathering calms down.
hasrat ne la rakha teri bazm-e-khayal mein
guldasta-e-nigaah suvedaa kahein jise
Line 3/4 - Longing has taken and placed in your gathering of thoughts, That bouquet of glances that they call as a black scar. The poet says that in the gathering of your thoughts (that is my heart), longing has placed a bouquet of glances and made a black scar on it. Those bouquet of longing filled glances have made a black scar on the my heart. I am so wounded in my heart by those sighing glances!
phoonka hai kisne gosh-e-muhabbat mein aye khuda
afsoon-e-intezaar tamanna kahein jise
Line 5/6 - Who has blown into the ear of love, Oh Lord!. The spell of waiting, that they say as longing. The poet says, O Lord - who is that someone who has breathed into the ear of love, such a charm of waiting which they now call as longing. That is some magic that someone has discreetly recited into the ear of love and tricked it, that spell of waiting. For as soon as love appears, longing also appears instantly at the same moment as if by magic!
sar par hujoom-e-dard-e-gareebi se daliye
woh ek musht-e-khaak ke sahra kahein jise
Line 7/8 - On the head due to mob of sorrow of poverty, throw. That one handful of dust, which they call a desert. There is not one or two but a whole multitude of sorrows of my miserable existence has made me throw handful of dust on my head, which people on looking would call it a desert. Pritchett refers to gareebi as countrylessness. This sorrowful state of homelessness and wandering around and my act of flinging dust on myself, which to onlookers would look so bleak and wasted that they would say its a desert.
hai chashm-e-tar mein hasrat-e-deeaar se nihaan
shauq-e-inaan gusekhtaa dariya kahein jise
Line 9/10 - In the teary eyes, from the longing of the sight, its hidden. That reined fondness and passion, that broke through, they would call it a mighty river. The poet says, the wetness of my eyes, the longing for the glance of the beloved hid such tumult, that bridled fervour and passion that if it broke through, it would be called a big river. Behind my tears, there is so much turmoil of the longing of the her sight that it will swell up in what we can say a turbulent river.
darkaar hai shaguftan-e-gul-haa-e-aish ko
subh-e-bahar pumba-e-meena kahen jise
Line 11/12 - It is necessary that for the blooming of the flowers of pleasure, the dawn of the spring which they would call the cotton of the goblet. Not a very straightforward sher I think. The poet says it is required for the blooming of the senses of pleasure and enjoyment, a dawn of spring which unfurls the fragrance of a million flowers that fills the gardens and hearts alike and similar to the cotton stopper on the wine goblet that when taken out unfurls its scent and allows the wine to be enjoyed around. Alternatively, it could also mean that a spring morning is what we call a heavenly whiteness (like of cotton, soft and pure) due to the white flowers blooming all around.
“ghalib” bura na maan jo waaiz bura kahe
aisa bhi koi hai ke sab achchha kahen jise
Line 13/14 - Ghalib, do not mind it if the preacher speaks ill of you. Is there anyone there? that everyone say good about. The second line can have an alternate interpretation. It can also mean, there is someone out there, about whom everyone speaks good of. Again with lot of Ghalib's work, the second line can be a fact or question. The poet says do not take it too hard on yourself if the preacher says bad about you. In a questioning tone he says, is there anyone in the world about whom every speaks highly of. There would always be people who would go against what others says. In the factual style, the poet says - yes there someone like that about whom everyone speaks highly of.
Meaning of difficult words -
gose - ear
afsoon - charm, spell
suvedaa - black scar, brackish
hujoom - mob
musht-e-khaak - handful of dust
sahra - desert
chasm-e-tar - teary eyes
nihaan - hidden
inaan - bridle, rein
gusekhtaa - broken off
darkaar - necessary
shaguftan-e-gul-haa-e-aish - blooming of flowers of pleasure
pumba - cotton
meena - goblet, heaven
waaiz - preacher
Read more posts on Ghalib.
aisa kahan se laaun ke tujhsa kahein jise
Line 1/2 - Why would not I offer a mirror, that it becomes a spectacle. From where do I bring, that they say it just like you. The poet says why would I not offer a mirror to the beloved. I putting it in front of her and she looking into it with those haughty glances would cause an uproar all around. The gallery would run amok at the sight of this. From where would I bring another such elegant face, that they say she looks 'like her'. Consider an alternate setting. The beloved is in veil and the only way to see her face is indirectly in a mirror. The lover says why would I not offer her a mirror. That is the only way to appreciate the beauty of the beloved. But once everyone see her in the mirror, there is tumult in the gathering on account of her glances. The audience now wants to see the beloved, except they can't. Where would I get another such beautiful face that looks like her so that the gathering calms down.
hasrat ne la rakha teri bazm-e-khayal mein
guldasta-e-nigaah suvedaa kahein jise
Line 3/4 - Longing has taken and placed in your gathering of thoughts, That bouquet of glances that they call as a black scar. The poet says that in the gathering of your thoughts (that is my heart), longing has placed a bouquet of glances and made a black scar on it. Those bouquet of longing filled glances have made a black scar on the my heart. I am so wounded in my heart by those sighing glances!
phoonka hai kisne gosh-e-muhabbat mein aye khuda
afsoon-e-intezaar tamanna kahein jise
Line 5/6 - Who has blown into the ear of love, Oh Lord!. The spell of waiting, that they say as longing. The poet says, O Lord - who is that someone who has breathed into the ear of love, such a charm of waiting which they now call as longing. That is some magic that someone has discreetly recited into the ear of love and tricked it, that spell of waiting. For as soon as love appears, longing also appears instantly at the same moment as if by magic!
sar par hujoom-e-dard-e-gareebi se daliye
woh ek musht-e-khaak ke sahra kahein jise
Line 7/8 - On the head due to mob of sorrow of poverty, throw. That one handful of dust, which they call a desert. There is not one or two but a whole multitude of sorrows of my miserable existence has made me throw handful of dust on my head, which people on looking would call it a desert. Pritchett refers to gareebi as countrylessness. This sorrowful state of homelessness and wandering around and my act of flinging dust on myself, which to onlookers would look so bleak and wasted that they would say its a desert.
hai chashm-e-tar mein hasrat-e-deeaar se nihaan
shauq-e-inaan gusekhtaa dariya kahein jise
Line 9/10 - In the teary eyes, from the longing of the sight, its hidden. That reined fondness and passion, that broke through, they would call it a mighty river. The poet says, the wetness of my eyes, the longing for the glance of the beloved hid such tumult, that bridled fervour and passion that if it broke through, it would be called a big river. Behind my tears, there is so much turmoil of the longing of the her sight that it will swell up in what we can say a turbulent river.
darkaar hai shaguftan-e-gul-haa-e-aish ko
subh-e-bahar pumba-e-meena kahen jise
Line 11/12 - It is necessary that for the blooming of the flowers of pleasure, the dawn of the spring which they would call the cotton of the goblet. Not a very straightforward sher I think. The poet says it is required for the blooming of the senses of pleasure and enjoyment, a dawn of spring which unfurls the fragrance of a million flowers that fills the gardens and hearts alike and similar to the cotton stopper on the wine goblet that when taken out unfurls its scent and allows the wine to be enjoyed around. Alternatively, it could also mean that a spring morning is what we call a heavenly whiteness (like of cotton, soft and pure) due to the white flowers blooming all around.
“ghalib” bura na maan jo waaiz bura kahe
aisa bhi koi hai ke sab achchha kahen jise
Line 13/14 - Ghalib, do not mind it if the preacher speaks ill of you. Is there anyone there? that everyone say good about. The second line can have an alternate interpretation. It can also mean, there is someone out there, about whom everyone speaks good of. Again with lot of Ghalib's work, the second line can be a fact or question. The poet says do not take it too hard on yourself if the preacher says bad about you. In a questioning tone he says, is there anyone in the world about whom every speaks highly of. There would always be people who would go against what others says. In the factual style, the poet says - yes there someone like that about whom everyone speaks highly of.
Meaning of difficult words -
gose - ear
afsoon - charm, spell
suvedaa - black scar, brackish
hujoom - mob
musht-e-khaak - handful of dust
sahra - desert
chasm-e-tar - teary eyes
nihaan - hidden
inaan - bridle, rein
gusekhtaa - broken off
darkaar - necessary
shaguftan-e-gul-haa-e-aish - blooming of flowers of pleasure
pumba - cotton
meena - goblet, heaven
waaiz - preacher
Read more posts on Ghalib.
Poems Of India - X
To the utterly at-one with Shiva
there's no dawn,
no new moon,
no noonday,
nor equinoxes,
nor sunsets,
nor full moons;
his front yard
is the true Benares,
O Ramanatha.
there's no dawn,
no new moon,
no noonday,
nor equinoxes,
nor sunsets,
nor full moons;
his front yard
is the true Benares,
O Ramanatha.
A rejection of ritualism, of sacred days and of sacred months and of scared places.
The Rubaiyat: Quatrain XLIX
'Tis all a Chequer-board of Nights and Days
Where Destiny with Men for Pieces plays:
Hither and thither moves, and mates, and slays,
And one by one back in the Closet lays.
This is the forty-ninth quatrain of the FitzGerald's Rubaiyat and among one of the few quatrains that are fairly clear what they want convey. The poet says in this chessboard of night and day, where humans are mere pawns in the hands of destiny. Destiny decides and the pawns move hither and thither. Not by their own gumption, but on the vagaries of what fate and destiny makes of them. In this game, they slay and checkmate but ultimately all the pieces one by one go back to the box where they lay. Destiny controls all of them, makes them do things and ultimately gets the better of them.
Poems Of India - IX
Not one, not two, not three or four,
but through eighty-four hundred thousand's vaginas*
have I come,
but through eighty-four hundred thousand's vaginas*
have I come,
I have come
through unlikely worlds,
guzzled on
pleasure and on pain.
Whatever be
all previous lives,
show me mercy
this one day,
all previous lives,
show me mercy
this one day,
0 lord
white as jasmine.
white as jasmine.
* The belief that the soul will go through eighty four hundred thousand rebirths in many forms of living beings before being born again as a human.
-- Akka Mahādēvi [Translated by A. K. Ramanujan in the book - Speaking of Siva]
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