Continuing with Faiz...
another 'sweet' ghazal, often sung. The radif 'Chale' can, depending on
construction, be used in the Indicative mood (as a declaratory statement), as
well as in the subjunctive (expressing a wish) mood, leading to a delicious
ambiguity in some of the shers.
गुलों मे रंग भरे, बाद-ए-नौबहार चले
चले भी आओ कि गुलशन का
कारोबार चले
"let
the blooms fill with colour, let the first zephyr of spring flow
do come over, so the garden can get on with its daily business"
फुलामध्ये रंग भरुदे ; वसंतातल्या कोवळ्या वाऱ्याच्या लहरी वाहू देत
तू (लौकर ) येच , त्यामुळे बागेचे रोजचे कारभार चालू राहतील !
A
plea directed at the Beloved, obviously.
A straightforward sher, the beauty of it lies in the way the first line, at first, sounds like the expression of a
simple wish - may colour fill the flowers, etc. - the 'normal' sort of wish you
would expect a poet to make. It is only when the second line hits you (and in the typical oral tradition of urdu
poetry, this would happen after numerous repetitions of the first line, while
the suspense builds up) that you realise that what the first line seemed to be wishing for is, in fact, nothing more
than the 'day-to-day business' (कारोबार) of a garden, and what
the poet actually desires is for is
for the Beloved to come over to the
garden, so that its 'normal activities' can 'proceed normally'!
It is only then that the actual
compliment implied - that in the absence of the Beloved, things are 'held in
abeyance' in the garden - becomes clear!
SO much more romantic than simply telling
the Beloved that she brings colour and freshness into his life, isn't it?
कफ़स उदास है यारों सबा से
कुछ तो कहो
कहीं तो बह्र-ए-खुदा आज ज़िक्र-ए-यार चले
"Gloom reigns in the cage, my friends; do say something to the breeze
somewhere, for God's sake, (there
must be) discussion about the Beloved today!"
बंधनात उदास आहे (मी ) मित्रानो ; वायुलाहारीबरोबर काही तरी बोला
कुठेतरी देवाशपथ माझ्या प्रियतमे विषयी
चर्चा होऊ द्या !
We
return to the familiar 'kafas-gulshan' stylisation of a bird caged away from
its garden (by implication, the lover separated from his Beloved).
"The cage is sad", he says, implying that the inhabitant of the cage
(the poet himself) is dejected... and as a 'remedy' to his sorrow, he urges his
friends to make a request the breeze - that it should seek out a location where
the Beloved is being discussed. The implication being that his imprisonment
would become bearable, if he could even enjoy a breeze that comes from such a place, and hence has picked up
strains of this conversation along the way. Definitely hyperbole, but nice!
'bahr' is a Persian preposition,
conveying a sense of 'on account of', or 'for the sake of'. Bahr-e-Khudaa would translate almost
literally as the exclamatory 'for God's sake!'
कभी तो सुब्ह तेरे कुन्ज-ए-लब से हो आगाज़
कभी तो शब् सर-ए-काकुल से मुश्कबार चले
"(at
least once) let the dawn commence from the corner of your mouth
(at least once) let the night be rendered fragrant by your curled tresses"
एकदातरी पहाटेची सुरवात तुझ्या ओठांच्या
कोपरापासून होऊ दे ( पहाटेच्या चुंबनाने )
एकदातरी रात्र तुझ्या काळ्याभोर केसांच्या सुगंधाच्या बेहोशीत सरू दे !
'i
wish there was at least some occasion
when the morning was "set into motion" or "inaugurated" by
the corner of your mouth' is how the first line literally reads.
To be woken up by a morning kiss from the Beloved seems almost too much to ask for, in the general
scheme of things in the Ghazal universe!
बड़ा
है दर्द का रिश्ता, ये दिल गरीब सही
तुम्हारे
नाम पे आएंगे गमगुसार चले
"the ties of pain run deep;
poor as this heart is
comfort-givers will come along, thanks to your
name"
खूप दुखी करणारे हे नाते आहे ; हृदय उदास झाले
पण तुझ्या प्रसिध्द नावामुळे, सहानभूती दाखवणारे अनेकजण भेटतील !
What a beautiful sher! I've read some truly
ridiculous interpretations of this one on the internet, though!
In effect, the sher wears a sadly sarcastic note - the poet informing the
Beloved about the deep fraternity that exists among those who have suffered the
pain of her unfaithfulness... hence, even though his impecunious heart has
little to offer to anyone, the mere spreading of the word that his pain is
caused by the Beloved will cause
(similarly suffering souls) to rush to his comfort!
There is a slight poetic rearranging of words in the second line which makes
this (otherwise simple) meaning a little difficult to catch - the 'aayenge' is
actually to be read after the final 'chale' as 'chale aayenge' (or 'will come
over').
जो हम पे गुजरी सो गुजरी मगर शब्-ए-हिजरां
हमारे अश्क तेरी आकबत संवार चले
"i may have endured whatever i endured,
but (on the) night of separation!
my tears left your future course
adorned"
मी जे सहन केले ते
केले ; पण निरोपाच्या रात्रीच्या वेळीचे
माझ्या डोळ्यातले आसू , तुझ्या प्रसिद्धीत नक्कीच भर घालतील !
The implication (probably) being that
(publicity about) the poet's copious tears during the night of separation would
tend to further enhance the fame of the Beloved.
In an alternative reading, the sher is addressed to the 'shab-e-hijraan' itself - and the poet says that his
tears would adorn the future of the (henceforth famous) 'night of separation'!
In either interpretation, it is sweet.
हुज़ूर-ए-यार हुई दफ्तर-ए-जूनून
की तलब
गिरह मे लेके गरेबां के तार-तार चले
"The Court of the Beloved (conveyed) the
desire for (seeing) the 'documentation of infatuation'
(Tied) in a knot (I carried) the tatters of (my) collar"
प्रेमिकेने प्रेमाचे पुरावे घेऊन न्यायालयात
बोलावले असताना
(रागाने फाडल्या गेलेल्या ) माझ्या कॉलरच्या तुकड्यांची गाठच मी सादर
करू शकलो !
There is such delicious abjectness
here... The Beloved's Court commands
that the 'case file' proving the (poet's) infatuation be produced before it;
the poet carries a small pouch containingthe knotted remains of his collar,
which he has (in the time-honoured 'chak-e-garebaan' stylisation of Urdu
poetry) torn to bits in amorous frenzy.
'Daftar' is now used colloquially to mean 'office', but originally stood for a
'file' or 'folder' containing official papers, such as a legal brief. In Indian
Government offices, there are still some persons nominally employed as
'daftaris' who are supposed to file papers and diarise their movement (although
they usually just hang about eating peanuts and chewing paan!). The French word
'bureau' (now meaning office) has a similar etymology, i believe. So does the
word 'budget' which originally stood for a bag containing official papers.
मकाम कोई फैज़ राह मे जचा ही नही
जो कू-ए-यार से निकले तो सू-ए-दार
चले
"no location/station en route caught the
fancy, Faiz
after quitting the Beloved's lane, (I) walked on (directly) towards the
gallows"
वाटेवरच कुठलंच स्थळ फैजला मोहवू शकल नाही
प्रेमिकेच्या घरापासून तडक तो फाशीच्या
स्तंभाकडे निघून गेला !
Another beautiful Maqta by Faiz...
Apart from the Beloved's lane, the poet has little interest in setting up abode
anywhere; banishment from that privileged neighbourhood is as good as a
sentence of death!
फैज़ अहमद फैज़