Followers

Monday, April 27, 2009

meer sahab se dosti kar lo!

there are some wonderful couplets by meer that i recently came upon and would like to share them with my readers...

bas yeh jana ke kuch na jana, haye!!
yeh bhi ik umr mein hua ma'aloom.

the wonderful thing about the couplet is its use of haye!..a version of Alas!...which brings in all the feelings of loss of life and the idea of gain which is miniscule in comparison to the loss...to a religious reader it ought to bring to the mind the meccan surah in the qur'aan called ' wal asr'....

wal asr! innal insana lafi khusr

khusr means loss...in this surah...Allah swears by 'Time'...eternal, temporal, duree real or reel, insaan, man is in a state of loss....except those who believe and do good deeds.
the first line of meers couplet brings to mind this state of loss...with the Haye! which brings out the state of regret at a life 'wasted'. the next couplet clarifies the first when it shows that the life has actually come to an end...ek umr mein hua ma'aloom.

haven't come across such laconic and packed lines in many writers.

Monday, April 6, 2009

ustad phir ustad hi hota hai!

One name seems to have been completely overwhelmed in todays popular choice of poets by Ghalib and Meer and that is Ustad Zauq...Zauq's poetry is incredible in its masterly use of language. There are so many couplets that we just pass over without really relishing the delicate taste...

Behtar to hai yahi ke na duniya se dil lage
par kya karen jo kaam na be dil lagi chale!

the play on dil lagna and dillagi is a masterly stroke as it captures the whole idea of the world being a joke...(Dillagi means harmless fun or joking)

i recently came upon some beautiful, lesser known couplets by Ustad Zauq...

kisi be kas ko ai bedaar gar mara to kya mara
jo aaphi mar raha ho us ko gar mara to kya mara?!

bade moozi ko mara, nafs e ammara ko gar mara
nahang o azdaha o sher e nar mara to kya mara?!

gaya shaitaan mara ek sajde ke na karne se
agar lakhon baras sajde mein sar mara to kya mara?!

the first couplet does not need explanation except the dipthong like use of Aphi which would otherwise be Aap Hi, in order to get the metre right.

the second couplet is about fighting against the 'self', the nafs e ammara, which proves one's prowess more than the killing of a cobra, a python or a male Lion.

the last couplet talks about the uselessness of 'performed' worship...if the intention is not that of submission then the prayers of a thousand years is nought.

Friday, April 3, 2009

Here are some couplets for all the systemic "subjects"

There has been a tendency in Urdu poetry from long before the arrival of poststructuralist thought to talk about the state of subjection that the human is born into. The readers of the blog would remember the couplet by Irfan siddiqui which talks about the chained existence of people of the world at large....ghalib talks about what could be seen reiterated in Gramscian thought when he says...

mishdah! ai zauq e aseeri, ke nazar aata hai
daam khali, qafas e murgh e giraftar ke paas

mishdah! is an expression of ironic praise for the people who can see others trapped in the snares of the world and a yet ready to enter the snare themself...zauq e aseeri means...the joy of being captive..daam is the snare and qafas is the cage. Don't we walk into numerous snares daily, even while being aware of the ones who are in a cage because of having walked into it....

shuja'a khawar says at one point...

udte huon ko ghoorta hai aasman...jaldi karo!
parwaaz par bas ab lagin pa' bandiyan...jaldi karo!

the word 'ghoorta', which stands for 'staring', gives an image of the peeved state of the powerful on seeing some 'fly in the face of authority' and hence the imposition of prohibitions.

another poet 'fani' talks of life and death in terms of subjection and freedom

fasl e gul aayi, ya ajal aayi? phir dar e zindan khulta hai...
ya koi qaidi aur aa pahuncha, ya koi qaidi cchoot gaya!

Meer has several beautiful couplets on the same theme

kaisa chaman?!! ke ham se aseeron ko mana hai
chaak e qafas se bagh ki deewar dekhna!

saye mein, taak ke, mujhe rakkha aseer kar
sayyad ke karam se qafas aashiyan hua!

The above couplet is phenomenal in its timeless appeal...to be born in a cage which does not permit any glimpse of the world outside...the 'beyond', collapses the difference between the cage..the qafas and the home.

there is yet another dramatic couplet by jigar muradabadi

ikka dukka...sada e zanjeer
zindaan mein shaam ho gayi hai!

ending on a positive note...only someone as resilient as Ghalib could say this...

baske hoon 'Ghalib' aseeri mein bhi, aatish zer e pa
mu e aatish deedah hai halqa meri zanjeer ka!

aseeri, to be aseer, means to be captive...aatish zer e pa..is to be ready to fly, to have fire under one's feet...and since one has fire under the feet...the iron rings of the chain (zanjeer ka halqa) would get red hot...the curve of the ring is likened to the humble capacity of a hair (mu) that curls as it is taken close to a burning object.

poochte hain woh ke ghalib kauh hai...

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

Monday, April 27, 2009

meer sahab se dosti kar lo!

there are some wonderful couplets by meer that i recently came upon and would like to share them with my readers...

bas yeh jana ke kuch na jana, haye!!
yeh bhi ik umr mein hua ma'aloom.

the wonderful thing about the couplet is its use of haye!..a version of Alas!...which brings in all the feelings of loss of life and the idea of gain which is miniscule in comparison to the loss...to a religious reader it ought to bring to the mind the meccan surah in the qur'aan called ' wal asr'....

wal asr! innal insana lafi khusr

khusr means loss...in this surah...Allah swears by 'Time'...eternal, temporal, duree real or reel, insaan, man is in a state of loss....except those who believe and do good deeds.
the first line of meers couplet brings to mind this state of loss...with the Haye! which brings out the state of regret at a life 'wasted'. the next couplet clarifies the first when it shows that the life has actually come to an end...ek umr mein hua ma'aloom.

haven't come across such laconic and packed lines in many writers.

Monday, April 6, 2009

ustad phir ustad hi hota hai!

One name seems to have been completely overwhelmed in todays popular choice of poets by Ghalib and Meer and that is Ustad Zauq...Zauq's poetry is incredible in its masterly use of language. There are so many couplets that we just pass over without really relishing the delicate taste...

Behtar to hai yahi ke na duniya se dil lage
par kya karen jo kaam na be dil lagi chale!

the play on dil lagna and dillagi is a masterly stroke as it captures the whole idea of the world being a joke...(Dillagi means harmless fun or joking)

i recently came upon some beautiful, lesser known couplets by Ustad Zauq...

kisi be kas ko ai bedaar gar mara to kya mara
jo aaphi mar raha ho us ko gar mara to kya mara?!

bade moozi ko mara, nafs e ammara ko gar mara
nahang o azdaha o sher e nar mara to kya mara?!

gaya shaitaan mara ek sajde ke na karne se
agar lakhon baras sajde mein sar mara to kya mara?!

the first couplet does not need explanation except the dipthong like use of Aphi which would otherwise be Aap Hi, in order to get the metre right.

the second couplet is about fighting against the 'self', the nafs e ammara, which proves one's prowess more than the killing of a cobra, a python or a male Lion.

the last couplet talks about the uselessness of 'performed' worship...if the intention is not that of submission then the prayers of a thousand years is nought.

Friday, April 3, 2009

Here are some couplets for all the systemic "subjects"

There has been a tendency in Urdu poetry from long before the arrival of poststructuralist thought to talk about the state of subjection that the human is born into. The readers of the blog would remember the couplet by Irfan siddiqui which talks about the chained existence of people of the world at large....ghalib talks about what could be seen reiterated in Gramscian thought when he says...

mishdah! ai zauq e aseeri, ke nazar aata hai
daam khali, qafas e murgh e giraftar ke paas

mishdah! is an expression of ironic praise for the people who can see others trapped in the snares of the world and a yet ready to enter the snare themself...zauq e aseeri means...the joy of being captive..daam is the snare and qafas is the cage. Don't we walk into numerous snares daily, even while being aware of the ones who are in a cage because of having walked into it....

shuja'a khawar says at one point...

udte huon ko ghoorta hai aasman...jaldi karo!
parwaaz par bas ab lagin pa' bandiyan...jaldi karo!

the word 'ghoorta', which stands for 'staring', gives an image of the peeved state of the powerful on seeing some 'fly in the face of authority' and hence the imposition of prohibitions.

another poet 'fani' talks of life and death in terms of subjection and freedom

fasl e gul aayi, ya ajal aayi? phir dar e zindan khulta hai...
ya koi qaidi aur aa pahuncha, ya koi qaidi cchoot gaya!

Meer has several beautiful couplets on the same theme

kaisa chaman?!! ke ham se aseeron ko mana hai
chaak e qafas se bagh ki deewar dekhna!

saye mein, taak ke, mujhe rakkha aseer kar
sayyad ke karam se qafas aashiyan hua!

The above couplet is phenomenal in its timeless appeal...to be born in a cage which does not permit any glimpse of the world outside...the 'beyond', collapses the difference between the cage..the qafas and the home.

there is yet another dramatic couplet by jigar muradabadi

ikka dukka...sada e zanjeer
zindaan mein shaam ho gayi hai!

ending on a positive note...only someone as resilient as Ghalib could say this...

baske hoon 'Ghalib' aseeri mein bhi, aatish zer e pa
mu e aatish deedah hai halqa meri zanjeer ka!

aseeri, to be aseer, means to be captive...aatish zer e pa..is to be ready to fly, to have fire under one's feet...and since one has fire under the feet...the iron rings of the chain (zanjeer ka halqa) would get red hot...the curve of the ring is likened to the humble capacity of a hair (mu) that curls as it is taken close to a burning object.