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Tuesday, April 22, 2008

a ghazal by meer taqi meer!

rang ud chala gulon ka chaman mein to kya naseem
ham ko to rozgar ne be baal o par kiya

nafeh jo thin mizaj ko awwal so ishq mein
aakhir unhin dawaon ne ham ko zarar kiya
(zarar: nuqsaan karna)

kya janoon bazm e aish ke saaqi ki chashm dekh
main suhbat e sharaab se aage safar kiya
(chashm: ankh)

jis dam ke tegh e ishq kinchi bul hawas kahan
sun lijiye ke hamne hi seena sipar kiya
(tegh: dagger, bul hawas: subjects of desire)

woh dasht e khauf naak raha hai mera watan
sun kar jise khizar ne safar se uzar kiya

(dasht: registan, desert, khizar: a travelling figure like Tiresias)

Monday, April 21, 2008

une autre compose par JAMI

here is another beautiful persian ghazal by Jamii..

yaar e man gar neem shab mast-e sharaab ayad beroun
zahid-e sad saala az masjid kharaab ayad beroun

subha dam tu rukh numayi, az namaaz-e man qazaa
sajda kin bashat rava, chun aaftab ayad beroun

baad e murdan laash e jami gar ba darya afgani
seena sozaan, dil tapaan, mahi ze aab ayad beroun

if my beloved were to arrive in her state of intoxication
an ascetic of a hundred years would come out of the mosque polluted

if you show your face in the morning, i would surely lose my morning prayers
for it is haraam to pray once the sun has shown itself

if you throw the body of ja'ami after his death in the sea
the heat of his heart would cause the fish to jump out of it!

something in persian...beautiful

She killed me with a sideways glance: Persian Ghazal

Mara ba ghamza kusht, o qaza ra bahana sakht

Khud suye ma na deed, o haya ra bahana sakht

Raftam ba masjidi ke babinam jamaal-e-dost

Dasti ba rukh kashid, o dua ra bahana sakht

Daste ba dosh-e ghair, nihade bar-e karam

Mara chun deed laghzish-e pa ra bahana sakht

Zahid na dasht tab-e-jamaal-e pari rukhan

Kunji girift o yad-e khuda ra bahana sakht

by Nizami Ganjavi: Persian Sufi poet, 1141-1209

Key Vocabulary:

Bahana: an excuse, a pretext

Sakht: he made

Zahid: an ascetic who takes on a life of poverty and isolates himself from human society, in order to concentrate on God through prayers, fasting and contemplation.

English Translation

She killed me with a sideways glance, “your fate”--is what she claimed

Never deigned to look at me face on, ‘I’m modest’--is what she claimed

To the mosque I dragged myself hoping for the beloved’s glimpse

Raising her hands to her face, “was praying”--is what she claimed.

Strolling about the town his hands entwined on my rival’s shoulders

Seeing me he sprang apart and “I was slipping”—is what he claimed.

The zahid has not the strength to bear the Beauty of the beloved’s face

Retiring to a corner with a rosary, “I’m praying”--is what he claims.

the ghazal has been sung by K.L. Saigal and is beautiful to hear....try and get it if you can

Wednesday, April 16, 2008

meer ke kuch asha'ar!

ham sarkashi mien muddaton masjid se bach bach kar chale
ab sajde hi mein guzre hai qad jo hua mehraab sa!

the best part about this shair is the term mehraab which implies the bent back of the old man as well as the architecture of the mosque....there is an internal connection between the words of the first line and the second, there is also a beautiful connection between the 'sarkashi' of youth and the submission of old age. The shair is tragic as it reiterates the finite nature of man. Mehraab by the way, is a word that means refuge from the glare of sunlight. Mehr--that is refuge, from 'aab' that is the glare.

saraapa aarzoo ham log hain kaahe ko zindon mein
rahe hain ab talak jeete, (wale!) dil maar maar apna

Wale! is actually an earlier form of Alas!
edited some thanks to my friends


this seems to be a very complicated shair from the psycho analytic point of view.

Tuesday, April 15, 2008

Iqbal's poetic legacy to the coming generations...

this is a relatively lesser known poem by Iqbal included in one of his later works...
boodhe baloch ki nasihat...

ho tere bayaban ki hawa tujh ko gawara
is dasht se behtar hai na dilli na bukhara

jis simt mein chahe sifat e sail e rawan chal
vadi yeh hamari hai yeh sehra bhi hamara

ghairat hai badi cheez jahan e tag o dau mien
pehnati hai darvesh ko taj e sar e dara

haasil kisi kamil se ye posheeda hunar kar
kehte hain ke sheeshe ko bana sakte hain khara

mehroom raha daulat e darya se wo ghawwas
karta nahin jo sohbat e saahil se kinara

duniya ko hai phir ma'arka e ruh o badan pesh
tehzeeb ne phir apne darindon ko ubhara

Allah ko pa mardi e mo'min pe bharosa
iblees ko Europe ki mashinon ka sahara

taqdeer e umam kya hai koi keh nahin sakta
mo'min ko farasat ho to ka'afi hai ishara

ikhlas e amal seekh naya kaan e kuhan se
shahan che ajab gar ba nawazand gada ra.

Yun Pukaren hain hamen kucha e janan wale...

i had been contemplating starting this blog for a long time. lekin shayad fursat nahin mili. I am an admirer of the poetry of Meer Taqi Meer and always had a feeling that the Urdu poets of India, not only of Delhi, but of India at large have not been understood and appreciated by the rest of the world in the manner that they should have been. If this had been the case Allama Iqbal would certainly have deserved a Nobel prize for literature. This is a humble attempt to open a space for all those who identify with the poet of the sher:

Yun pukaren hain hamen kucha e janan wale
idhar aa be, abe O!!, Chak gariban wale!!

poochte hain woh ke ghalib kauh hai...

My photo
Senior assistant professor at Zakir Husain Delhi College (Eve.) of the Delhi University

Tuesday, April 22, 2008

a ghazal by meer taqi meer!

rang ud chala gulon ka chaman mein to kya naseem
ham ko to rozgar ne be baal o par kiya

nafeh jo thin mizaj ko awwal so ishq mein
aakhir unhin dawaon ne ham ko zarar kiya
(zarar: nuqsaan karna)

kya janoon bazm e aish ke saaqi ki chashm dekh
main suhbat e sharaab se aage safar kiya
(chashm: ankh)

jis dam ke tegh e ishq kinchi bul hawas kahan
sun lijiye ke hamne hi seena sipar kiya
(tegh: dagger, bul hawas: subjects of desire)

woh dasht e khauf naak raha hai mera watan
sun kar jise khizar ne safar se uzar kiya

(dasht: registan, desert, khizar: a travelling figure like Tiresias)

Monday, April 21, 2008

une autre compose par JAMI

here is another beautiful persian ghazal by Jamii..

yaar e man gar neem shab mast-e sharaab ayad beroun
zahid-e sad saala az masjid kharaab ayad beroun

subha dam tu rukh numayi, az namaaz-e man qazaa
sajda kin bashat rava, chun aaftab ayad beroun

baad e murdan laash e jami gar ba darya afgani
seena sozaan, dil tapaan, mahi ze aab ayad beroun

if my beloved were to arrive in her state of intoxication
an ascetic of a hundred years would come out of the mosque polluted

if you show your face in the morning, i would surely lose my morning prayers
for it is haraam to pray once the sun has shown itself

if you throw the body of ja'ami after his death in the sea
the heat of his heart would cause the fish to jump out of it!

something in persian...beautiful

She killed me with a sideways glance: Persian Ghazal

Mara ba ghamza kusht, o qaza ra bahana sakht

Khud suye ma na deed, o haya ra bahana sakht

Raftam ba masjidi ke babinam jamaal-e-dost

Dasti ba rukh kashid, o dua ra bahana sakht

Daste ba dosh-e ghair, nihade bar-e karam

Mara chun deed laghzish-e pa ra bahana sakht

Zahid na dasht tab-e-jamaal-e pari rukhan

Kunji girift o yad-e khuda ra bahana sakht

by Nizami Ganjavi: Persian Sufi poet, 1141-1209

Key Vocabulary:

Bahana: an excuse, a pretext

Sakht: he made

Zahid: an ascetic who takes on a life of poverty and isolates himself from human society, in order to concentrate on God through prayers, fasting and contemplation.

English Translation

She killed me with a sideways glance, “your fate”--is what she claimed

Never deigned to look at me face on, ‘I’m modest’--is what she claimed

To the mosque I dragged myself hoping for the beloved’s glimpse

Raising her hands to her face, “was praying”--is what she claimed.

Strolling about the town his hands entwined on my rival’s shoulders

Seeing me he sprang apart and “I was slipping”—is what he claimed.

The zahid has not the strength to bear the Beauty of the beloved’s face

Retiring to a corner with a rosary, “I’m praying”--is what he claims.

the ghazal has been sung by K.L. Saigal and is beautiful to hear....try and get it if you can

Wednesday, April 16, 2008

meer ke kuch asha'ar!

ham sarkashi mien muddaton masjid se bach bach kar chale
ab sajde hi mein guzre hai qad jo hua mehraab sa!

the best part about this shair is the term mehraab which implies the bent back of the old man as well as the architecture of the mosque....there is an internal connection between the words of the first line and the second, there is also a beautiful connection between the 'sarkashi' of youth and the submission of old age. The shair is tragic as it reiterates the finite nature of man. Mehraab by the way, is a word that means refuge from the glare of sunlight. Mehr--that is refuge, from 'aab' that is the glare.

saraapa aarzoo ham log hain kaahe ko zindon mein
rahe hain ab talak jeete, (wale!) dil maar maar apna

Wale! is actually an earlier form of Alas!
edited some thanks to my friends


this seems to be a very complicated shair from the psycho analytic point of view.

Tuesday, April 15, 2008

Iqbal's poetic legacy to the coming generations...

this is a relatively lesser known poem by Iqbal included in one of his later works...
boodhe baloch ki nasihat...

ho tere bayaban ki hawa tujh ko gawara
is dasht se behtar hai na dilli na bukhara

jis simt mein chahe sifat e sail e rawan chal
vadi yeh hamari hai yeh sehra bhi hamara

ghairat hai badi cheez jahan e tag o dau mien
pehnati hai darvesh ko taj e sar e dara

haasil kisi kamil se ye posheeda hunar kar
kehte hain ke sheeshe ko bana sakte hain khara

mehroom raha daulat e darya se wo ghawwas
karta nahin jo sohbat e saahil se kinara

duniya ko hai phir ma'arka e ruh o badan pesh
tehzeeb ne phir apne darindon ko ubhara

Allah ko pa mardi e mo'min pe bharosa
iblees ko Europe ki mashinon ka sahara

taqdeer e umam kya hai koi keh nahin sakta
mo'min ko farasat ho to ka'afi hai ishara

ikhlas e amal seekh naya kaan e kuhan se
shahan che ajab gar ba nawazand gada ra.

Yun Pukaren hain hamen kucha e janan wale...

i had been contemplating starting this blog for a long time. lekin shayad fursat nahin mili. I am an admirer of the poetry of Meer Taqi Meer and always had a feeling that the Urdu poets of India, not only of Delhi, but of India at large have not been understood and appreciated by the rest of the world in the manner that they should have been. If this had been the case Allama Iqbal would certainly have deserved a Nobel prize for literature. This is a humble attempt to open a space for all those who identify with the poet of the sher:

Yun pukaren hain hamen kucha e janan wale
idhar aa be, abe O!!, Chak gariban wale!!