Three great sher's from an amazing ghazal

Mere humnafas mere humnawa, mujhe dost ban ke dagaa na de, 

Main hoon dard-e-ishq se jaaN-ba-lab, mujhe zindagi ki duaa na de. 

Mujhe chhod de mere haal par, tera kya bharosa ae chaaraghar, Ye teri nawazish-e-mukhtsar mera dard aur badha na de 

Wo uthein haiN leke hum-o-subu, Arrey O 'Shakeel' kahaN hai tu, 

Tera jaam lene ko bazm mein, koi aur haath badha na de. 

Random sher - ilm ka sauda

अश्आर मेरे यूँ तो ज़माने के लिए हैं
कुछ शेर फक़त उनको सुनाने के लिए हैं

ये इल्म का सौदा, ये रिसाले, ये किताबें,
एक शख्स की यादों को भुलाने के लिए हैं.

How is your index finger?

दुनिया ने तेरी याद से बेगाना कर दिया, 

तुझसे भी दिल-फरेब हैं ग़म रोज़गार के 

                                                              फैज़ अहमद फैज़ 

These Urdu shayars are called ustaad not because they were a master of Urdu poetry (which they were) but because they were masters of human psychology and behaviour. 

Let me translate the sher first then we'll come to my actual topic. Faiz says that the world actually made me forget your memory, because the hassles of work are even more attractive (?) than you. Here Faiz uses the word Dil-Fareb. Dil of course is heart, and fareb means deception. I think Faiz uses "Dil-fareb" to mean "attractive" in the case of the beloved and "distracting" in case of the hassles. So, in short, "Dear Love, you are so attractive that you have taken my heart but these hassles of employment are so distracting that they have made me forget everything including you." Of course, it's a thousand times more powerful in the original Urdu. :)

Now, to my topic. If you read it in Faiz's words it sounds callous to forget a loved one for practical matters of the world, but is it not true in the case of each and everyone of us? 

When the boss's call comes on the call waiting, do you not hang up with the girlfriend with, "I'll call you back, baby." Do the family matters not get pushed back when the project hits "urgent"? 

The weird thing about it is that projects have a "red" or "urgent" indicator, personal relationships don't. They hit red when you find out your wife is having an affair or your girlfriend dumps you, or the friend you never got around to emailing, is no longer in a position to receive emails.....

By then it's too late. You can't put more manpower on that project, you can't make people work in shifts, and you can't increase the budget....

Interesting, no?

Let's be fair, work is important, projects do need time and attention, but so do family and friends, and life partners.

How often have you heard this from a friend when you called them, "Arre yaar, so sorry I haven't called you in so long, but I have been so busy!" And how often have you said it yourself?

Sometimes it is indeed true that one is simply swamped with work and personal stuff that takes up all their time, but more often than not, it's just a question of sorting out your priorities and managing your time effectively in order to achieve them. I mean, really, how long does it take to shoot off a two-line email or a one line text message?

I am sure at one point or another you have sorted out your work things and created a to-do list. May be even for your personal "business" stuff. Ever made a grocery list? I bet you have. Well, surely a friend who lends you his ear, supports you in bad times, amuses you in good times and loves you despite yourself cannot be less important than a carton of milk?

मुद्दतें गुजरीं कि तेरी याद भी आई न हमें 

और हम भूल गए हों तुझे ऐसा भी नहीं 

One question I am sometimes forced to ask my friends is, "How is your index finger these days?"

And once he/she says, it's okay, I demand, "Then why the hell didn't you use it to dial my number?"

So, look at that index finger, if it's fine, use it for something other than picking your nose. 

And with the delightful image I will leave you to do with it as you like. 

Shayri 101 - Faiz - Dono jahaan teri mohabbat mein

A ghazal from Ustaad Faiz this time. 

दोनों जहान तेरी मोहब्बत में हार के

वो जा रहा है कोई शबे-ग़म गुज़ार के

[शब्-ए-ग़म = दुःख की रात]

Dono jahaan of course refers to this world and the world of heaven and hell. When a man is in love, he cares nothing for the pleasures of the Earth or Heaven, other than the love of his beloved nothing else matters to him. And this man, poet says has lost both the worlds in one night, a night of sorrow. The lover knows only one sorrow - of not having his love returned by the object of his affections. So, he gives up Earth and Heaven in order to gain the love of his life but as the reference to the night of sorrow indicates, he doesn't receive that love from his beloved. 

इक फुर्सते-ए-गुनाह मिली वो भी चार दिन

देखे हैं हम ने हौंसले परवरदिगार के

This one literally amounts to blasphemy. The poet says that the God gave us life to enjoy, he calls it a leisure to commit sins (anything and everything that's considered pleasure by the people is usually classified as "sin" by a majority of the religions). But, according to the poet, this window of opportunity is so short like 4 days. That's a popular expression to call the human life four days long. I am reminded of another sher:

मेरे महबूब ने वादा किया है पांचवें दिन का, 

किसी से सुन लिया होगा कि दुनिया चार दिन की है 

Back to Faiz's sher. The poet says that God gave us time to enjoy ourself but only such a brief one and that in the poet's view shows the God's courage in entrusting the world to Man. God was afraid of what chaos Man might create on Earth if he had more time, so he gave him only a short lifespan. The synonym used here for God is "parvardigaar" which means the one who provides everything, think about the word "Parvarish" and you'll see what I mean. One of my favourite shers even though the whole ghazal is my favourite. 

वीरां है मैकदा खुम-ओ-सागर उदास है 

तुम क्या गए कि रूठ गए दिन बहार के

[मैकदा = शराबखाना, खुम =घड़ा, सागर=गिलास]

The bar is deserted, the pitcher and the glass are sad. Ever since you left the Spring has left. Pretty simple once you know the difficult words. 

दुनिया ने तेरी याद से बेगाना कर दिया

तुझ से भी दिल-फरेब हैं ग़म रोज़गार के

Another one of my favourites. Even though I love you dearly, the work of the world must be done and such absorbing and distracting is this work in fact that it has made me forget even you. 

भूले से मुस्कुरा तो दिए थे वो आज 'फैज़' 

मत पूछ वलवले दिल-ए-नाकर्दाकार के 

Faiz says that today she smiled by mistake and I cannot describe how many desires and passions that one smile stirred up in my useless heart. Why is the heart useless? Because its one job is to attract and entice the one I love and it's not able to do that. Hence dil-e-nakardakaar or useless heart. 

Well, that concludes the second lesson in Shayri :). Your comments and questions are welcome as always. 

PJ Shayri - My Style

I have seen this sort of thing on Comedy Circus, but they don't really pay attention to the rhythm or length, just the rhyming of last words. I thought I could do better, so here are some samples for you.

उसके  प्यार  में दिल ने हमको यूँ काँटों में घसीटा, 

तन की शक्ति, मन की शक्ति, Bournvita

बिना तुम्हारे नींद न आये दिन भी नहीं ढलता

तुम्हारी त्वचा से तुम्हारी उम्र का पता ही नहीं चलता

साथ तुम्हारा प्रियतमे छूटेगा नहीं

फेविकोल का मज़बूत जोड़ है टूटेगा नहीं 

नेताओं को लग गई बेईमानी की खाज

बुलंद भारत  की बुलंद तस्वीर...हमारा बजाज 

हम को तो पैसे से मतलब देश का  जो कछु होय 

She's a complan girl, I am a complan boy

जैसा कि रिवाज है आखिरी शेर में शायर का नाम ज़रूर आना चाहिए, तो अर्ज़ है कि..

बेईमानों की BMW, सच्चों की खडखडिया है 

वाह सुनील बाबू, बढ़िया है 

As usual, your comments are welcome. :) 

Shayri 101 - Khumar - Haale-dil unko sunaate jaaiye

I have been interested in Shayri from early childhood. Things that rhymed just fascinated me. Then as I grew up the interest grew and I began to get the meaning and emotion behind the sher's, even the non-rhyming ones. Now after years and years of enjoying Urdu Shayri I have come to realize that not only do I enjoy reading or listening to shayri, I also enjoy explaining the sher's to those friends who don't understand that much Urdu even though they are interested in Shayri. 

I have done some posts where I posted a sher and then explained it but mostly for my English-speaking readers. It occurred to me that I could do a series of posts for kind of teaching this sort of thing. But I was afraid it might come off as patronizing or showing off my knowledge. Recently, it was pointed out to me that my readers might enjoy that kind of posts. People who like Urdu shayri but haven't had the background to understand a lot of it are not in minority. And modest as I am, even I have to admit that my knowledge of shayri is above average at least. :) 

So, here we go, take from it what you like, but I am going to do a series of posts where I'll post from my favourite sher's and explain their meaning including the deeper meaning as I see it. 

Let's tackle a nice ghazal today, one of my very favourites. The name of the shayar is खुमार बाराबंकवी, a famour shayar with many very popular ghazals to his credit. 

हाले-दिल  उनको  सुनाते  जाइए 

शर्त  ये  है  मुस्कुराते  जाइए 

Translation: When you pour your heart out to her, the condition is that you keep smiling. 

Meaning. Haale-dil, the things that are in your heart, when a lover wants to tell this to his beloved, it's usually things like "I can't sleep, I can't eat, I can't live without you" etc. etc. So, the shayar says that when you tell her all this, keep a smile on your face. Why? Because you want to keep her interested, and you want to put on a brave front, because nobody likes a whiner. 

आप को जाते न देखा जाएगा 

शम्मा को पहले बुझाते जाइए

Translation: I cannot see you go, so please douse the candle before you go. 

Meaning: The Urdu shayri deals in very delicate emotions. Shayar says that I cannot bear to see you go, so douse the candle so that it's dark when you leave. The implication is that even though I know you are leaving, and I know I cannot stop you, at least I will not have to see you walk out of my life. Anyone who has ever said goodbye to a loved one would understand this sentiment. 

And this was the first sher I ever heard from this ghazal: 

दुश्मनों से प्यार होता जाएगा 

दोस्तों को आजमाते जाइए

Translation: You will start falling in love with your enemies when you start testing your friends. 

Meaning: This is a cynical sher. The shayar is talking about the ways of the world that once you start testing your friends you will find that you cannot rely upon them and it might sour you on your friends, making you love your enemies more. As I said it's a very cynical sher but unfortunately bears a grain of truth and I think we can all understand from our own experiences where the poet is coming from. 

The last sher, the Makta as it is called, contains the name of the shayar. When I told Fazil the above sher, he told me the next one, and the name of the poet. 

रौशनी महदूद हो जिनकी "खुमार"

उन चिरागों को बुझाते जाइए

Translation: The shayar says that we should douse the lamps that have a limited circle of light. 

Meaning: The purpose of a lamp is to give light, and the purpose of a human being is to do good. But those lamps whose circle of light is very limited (mehdood comes from हद which means limit) or the people who do good things only to help themselves or their family, are useless in this world, their existence is meaningless. The implication here is that we should be selfless and generous to all our fellow beings and should encourage that kind of culture in the world. 

I have deliberately selected a relatively easy to understand ghazal for this post. In the future I will tackle progressive more complicated language and concepts. 

I will wait for your comments to know if this was useful at all. 

Ghazal from Shamim Jaipuri

कितनी राहत है दिल टूट जाने के बाद
ज़िंदगी से मिले मौत आने के बाद


लज़्ज़त-ए-सजदा-ए-सन्ग-ए-दर क्या कहें (उसकी चौखट पर सर झुकाने का मज़ा)
होश ही कब रहा सर झुकाने के बाद


क्या हुआ हर मसर्रर्त (खुशी) अगर छिन गई
आदमी बन गया गम उठाने के बाद


रात का माजरा किस से पूछें "शमीम"
क्या बनी बज़्म पर मेरे आने के बाद

The image is another ghazal by Shamim Jaipuri.

Edit: My apologies. Now that I read the ghazal fully (my speed is pathetic) the Shayar's name is Hasan. But it's a lovely ghazal so I am gonna leave the image unharmed.

Kabhi kitaabon mein phool rakhna kabhi darakhton pe naam likhna,
Hamein bhi hai yaad aaj tak wo nazar se harf-e-salaam likna.

Random Sher - Wounds of past - No relevance

ऐ नये दोस्त मैं समझूंगा तुझे भी अपना,
पहले माज़ी का कोई ज़ख़्म तो भर जाने दे


Actually there is relevance. I was thinking about my next planned bike (motorbike) trip. And it reminded me of the mark from the wound of the last accident I had on a bike. Hence the sher.

Letters in Urdu Shayri

The topic was just on my mind, so I decided to post some good shers on it. The range of emotions in the various sher's is amazing. And as always I am quite fascinated by how cleverly the Urdu shayars have expressed these things.

I have included some shers from the same ghazal where I could, to make the rhyming more meaningful if you haven't heard that ghazal before.

Namabar, qasid and payaami are all names for the letter carrier.

We'll start with my most favourite one:

नामाबर तू ही बता, तूने तो देखे होंगे,
कैसे होते हैं वो खत जिनका जवाब आता है?

******
कब से हूँ क्या बताऊँ जहाने-खराब में
शबहा-ए हिज्र को भी रखूं घर हिसाब में

[शबहा-ए हिज्र=]

क़ासिद के आते आते खत एक और लिख रखूं,
मैं जानता हूँ जो वो लिखेंगे जवाब में.

दोनो का एक हाल है ये मुद्द्आ हो काश
क्यों फिर वही खत भेज दिया उसने जवाब में

    [मिर्ज़ा ग़ालिब]


****
ना आते हमें इसमे तक़रार क्या थी
मगर वादा करते तुम्हें आर क्या थी

त_अम्मुल तो था उनको आने में क़ासिद,
मगर ये बता तर्ज़-ए-इनकार क्या थी

****

मेरे क़ासिद जब तू पहुँचे मेरे दिलदार के आगे
अदब से सर झुकाना हुस्न की सरकार के आगे
ज़बान से गर ना कह पाए आंखों से बयाँ करना
मेरे गम का हर एक क़िस्सा मेरे गम-ख्वार के आगे

****

क़ासिद पयाँ-ए-शौक़ को देना बहुत ना तूल
कहना फकत ये उन से कि आँखें तरस गईं
****

खत के पुर्ज़े आए हैं, क़ासिद का सर, तस्वीर-ए-गैर
ये है भेजा उस सितमगर ने मेरे खत का जवाब
****

क्या जाने लिख दिया क्या उसे इज़तराब में
क़ासिद की लाश आई है खत के जवाब में
****

वो और वादा वस्ल का क़ासिद नहीं नहीं
सच सच बता ये लफ्ज़ उन्हीं की ज़्बाँ के हैं

****


नामा गया कोई ना कोई नामाबर गया
तेरी खबर ना आई ज़माना गुज़र गया

****

मगर लिखवाए कोई उसको खत तो हमसे लिखवाए

हुई सुबह और घर से कान पर रख कर क़लम निकले

****

जिस पर हमारी आँख ने मोती बिछाए रात भर

भेजा वही काग़ज़ उसे हम ने लिखा कुछ भी नहीं

****

वो भी शायद रो पड़े वीरान काग़ज़ देख कर

मैने उसे आख़िरी खत में लिखा कुछ भी नहीं

****

कोई दिन गर ज़िंदगानी और है,

अपने दिल में हम ने ठानी और है,

देके खत मुँह देखता है नामाबर

कुछ तो पैग़ाम-ए-ज़ुबानी और है

*****

Namabar tu hi bata, tune to dekhe honge, 
Kaise hote hain wo khat jinka jawab aata hai?
[Qamar]

****

Kab se hoon kya bata_oon jahane-kharab mein
Shabha-ye hijr kjo bhi rakhoon ghar hisab mein

[Shabha-ye hijr=nights of separation]

Qasid ke aate aate khat ek aur likh rakhoon, 
Main jaanta hoon jo wo likhenge jawaab mein. 

Dono ka ek haal hai ye mudd_aa ho kaash
Kyon phir wahi khat bhej diya usne jawaab mein

[Mirza Ghalib]

****

Na aate hamein isme taqraar kya thii
Magar vaada karte tumhein aar kya thii

I also love this one:

Ta_ammul to tha unko aane mein qasid, 
Magar ye bata tarz-e-inkaar kya thii?

[Allama Iqbal]
****
Mere qasid jab tu pahunche mere dildaar ke aage
Adab se sar jhukaanaa husn ki sarkaar ke aage
ZabaaN se gar na keh paaye aa.Nkho.n se bayaa.N karanaa
Mere Gam kaa har ek qissaa mere Gam-Khvaar ke aage

****
qaasid payaam-e-shauq ko denaa bahut na tuul
kahanaa faqat ye un se ki aa.Nkhe.n taras ga_ii.n

[Jaleel Manakpuri]
                ****
Khat ke purze aaye hai.n, qaasid ka sar, tasviir-e-Gair
ye hai bhejaa us sitamgar ne mere Khat kaa javaab

****

kyaa jaane likh diyaa kyaa use izteraab me.n
qaasid kii laash aa_ii hai Khat ke javaab me.n
[Momin]

vo aur vaadaa vasl kaa qaasid nahii.n nahii.n
sach sach bataa ye lafz unhii.n kii zabaa.N ke hai.n
[Amir Meenai]

****

naamaa gayaa ko_ii na ko_ii naamaabar gayaa
terii Khabar na aa_ii zamaanaa guzar gayaa

[Seemab Akbarabadi]
****
This is from the famous ghazal "Hazaron khwahishen aisi"...

Magar likhavaa_e koii usako Khat to hamase likhavaae
Huii subah aur ghar se kaan par rakh kar qalam nikale
` [Mirza Ghalib]

****
jis par hamaarii aa.Nkh ne motii bichhaye raat bhar
bhejaa vohii kaaGaza use ham ne likhaa kuchh bhii nahii.n
[Bashir Badr]
****
vo bhii shaayad ro pa.De viiraan kaaGaz dekh kar
mai.n ne use aaKhirii Khat me.n likhaa kuchh bhii nahii.n

[Zahur Nazar]
****
We'll end with another one of my favourites, I love this ghazal, I think I'll post it in its entirety as a different post:

Ko_ii din ghar zindgaani aur hai,
Apne dil mein hum ne thaani aur hai,

Deke Khat muu.Nh dekhataa hai naamaabar
Kuchh to paiGaam-e-zubaanii aur hai

[Mirza Ghalib]


Feel free to comment or add any sher's that you may like on this topic.

The Beauty of Shayri

चाँद सा मिसरा अकेला है मेरे कागज़ पर,

छत पे आ जाओ मेरा शेर मुकम्मल कर दो.

Chaand sa misra akela hai mere kaagaz par,
chhat pe aa jao mera sher mukammal kar do.

I was listening to the recording of a nashisht (a recital of Urdu poetry) from the time when I was in India, in my friend's village. This sher was quoted in that.

Let me see if I can explain this beautiful thing in English.

A "sher" is a couplet, two lines that need to say something meaningful, and a "misra" is one line, so a complete sher needs to have two "misra"s. In Indian poetry beauty of a girl is often compared to the beauty of the Moon. So, this sher says, "This single line is lonely on my paper like Moon in the sky. If you come out on the roof my sher will be complete!" Of course, it's about a million times more beautiful in original Urdu.

The Power of One!

Never say you couldn't achieve anything because noone was there to support you. Did you dare to start?

It reminds me of this sher from Allama Iqbal -
"Main akela hee chala tha jaanib-e-manzil magar,
Log saath aate gaye, kaarvaaN ban.ta gayaa".

(I had started alone towards the destination,
People kept falling in step with me and procession was thus built.)

(Originally seen here - http://sagargoswami007.blogspot.com/2008/09/great.html)

Friendship - How close, how true....er...how long?

This is a well known ghazal by Ahmed Faraz, and it's always been on my list of favorites especially the last sher, the maq'ta, but just read it again and found a couple of sher's I hadn't heard before.

Dost ban kar bhii nahii.n saath nibhaanevaalaa

dost ban kar bhii nahii.n saath nibhaanevaalaa

vahii andaaz hai zaalim kaa zamaanevaalaa 

ab ise log samajhate hai.n giraftaar meraa 

saKht nadiim hai mujhe daam me.n laanevaalaa 

kyaa kahe.n kitane maraasim the hamaare is se 

vo jo ik shaKhs hai muu.Nh pher ke jaanevaalaa 

tere hote hue aa jaatii thii saarii duniyaa 

aaj tanhaa huu.N to ko_ii nahii.n aanevaalaa 

muntazir kis kaa huu.N TuuTii hu_ii dahaliiz pe mai.n 

kaun aayegaa yahaa.N kaun hai aanevaalaa 

mai.n ne dekhaa hai bahaaro.n me.n chaman ko jalate 

hai ko_ii Khvaab kii taabiir bataanevaalaa 

kyaa Khabar thii jo merii jaan me.n ghulaa hai itanaa 

hai vahii mujh ko sar-e-daar bhii laane vaalaa 

tum taqalluf ko bhii iKhalaas samajhate ho 'Faraz' 

dost hotaa nahii.n har haath milaanevaalaa 

I love this one - 

"mai.n ne dekhaa hai bahaaro.n me.n chaman ko jalate 

hai ko_ii Khvaab kii taabiir bataanevaalaa"

I'll translate just one, it's very melancholy/downright sad, 
[I have seen the garden burning down in springtime, 
now, who can interpret this dream for me? ]

Don't say it, I know it's much more beautiful in the original. 

Wonderful blues

This morning I was thinking, aimlessly, and recalled a couple of sher's from Ghalib's ghazal:

कोई दीन गर जिंदगानी और है,
अपने दील में हमने ठानी और है,

आतीश-ए-दोज़ख में वो गर्मी कहाँ,
सोज़-ए-ग़म-हा-ए नीहानी और है.

Koi din gar zindagaani aur hai,
Apne dil meiN hamne thaani aur hai,

Aatish-e-dozakh meiN wo garmi kahaN,
Soz-e-gham-haa-e niha-nee aur hai.

[In simple words,
If I have a few more days to live,
I have some different plans in my heart.

The fires of Hell don't have that heat,
which I feel in the heat of unknown sorrows. ]

And I thought it's so wonderful to have poetry and songs to fall back on when you think life is not going as it should or when you are sad, actually the right word would be melancholy, even without a reason. This second sher used to be one of my favorites during a period of my life when I was not happy with my daily routine, my work and the overall direction of my career. Not so now, but I still think it's a beautiful sher!

A random sher

चाँद सा मीसरा अकेला है मेरे कागज़ पर,
छत पे आ जाओ मेरा शेर मुकम्मल कर दो.

Chaand sa misra akela hai mere kaagaz par,
chhat pe aa jao mera sher mukammal kar do.

I know I am reusing the title but that's exactly what I am doing - posting a random sher. I was listening to the recording of a nashisht (a recital of Urdu poetry) from the time when I was in India, in my friend's village. This sher was quoted in that.

Let me see if I can explain this beautiful thing in English.

A "sher" is a couplet, 2 lines that need to say something meaningful, and a "misra" is one line, so a complete sher needs to have 2 "misra"s. In Indian poetry beauty of a girl is often compared to the beauty of the Moon. So, this sher says, "This single line is lonely on my paper like Moon in the sky. If you come out on the roof my sher will be complete!" Of course, it's about a million times more beautiful in original.

A random sher

Kabhi hamse kabhi ghairon se shana_saa_i hai,
Baat kehne ki nahiN tu bhi toh har_jaa_i hai.

Some shers are so beautiful, they are worth mentioning even without any thoughts attached to them.

This one means -
Sometimes you are friendly with me and sometimes with others,
It is not mentionable but you too are fickle.

But of course, it's more beautiful in the original Urdu. :-)