Woh mujhse hue humqalaam — Sufi Tabassum

We believe that all poetry is due to overwhelming emotions that the poet cannot contain within himself and needs to express via words. There are a spectrum of emotions that lead to a poem, but of course, many a time, a specific one stands out. This poem, we believe, is one such poem. All the couplets which have been sung have the poet trying to juxtapose two situations/ideas that he's not able to reconcile, leading to the exclamation, 'Allah, Allah'. 

Woh mujhse hue humqalam, Allah Allah

Kahan mein kahan ye maqaam, Allah Allah

I had the great fortune of being a conversation with her,

I am not worthy of this achievement, Allah Allah

[Here the poet is not able reconcile with the fact that he just spoke with her. He thinks that he is not even worthy of being able to speak with her.]

Ye *ru-e-darakhshan, ye zulfon ke saaye,

Ye hungaama-e-sub-o-shaam, Allah Allah

These bright faces like daylight, and these dark shades of hair,

The commotion of day and night, Allah Allah

[Here the poet very tastefuly compares the glow of the beloved's face and her dark hair with the light of the day and the darkness of the night. Notice that the he's not able to reconcile the day and night here, just like he's disturbed by the lovers face and her hair.  This leads to a more romantic interpretation, that  all his days and nights go in remembering his lover.]

Wo sehma hua aansuon ka *talaatum

Wo aab-e-rawan *be-khiraam, Allah Allah

That stifled gush of tears,

That flow of tears, unbridled, Allah, Allah.

[Here the poet finds the stifled storm of tears and the uncontrolled crying irreconcilable.]

Wo zabt-e-sukhan mein labon ki khamoshi

Nazar ka wo *lutf-e-kalaam, Allah Allah

That trying to conceal the words by not speaking them from lips,

That letting all be known coquettishly through your gaze, Allah Allah!

[This is perhaps the best sher of the Ghazal. The exclaimation Allah Allah is because he finds it difficult to bring to terms the restraint of words and the narration of the eyes.]

— Sufi Tabassum

——————

ru-e-darakhshan= bright face

talaatum= storm

be-khiram= disgraceful, untasteful

lutf-e-kalaam= pleasures of conversation

When sung with the flair of Farida Khanum, who sprinkles the shers with just enough silence before ‘Allah, Allah’ to convey the poet’s mind, the poem becomes all the memorable!

Mere humnafas mere humnava

Today we translate arguably the most popular ghazal by 'Shakeel' Badayuni.  We try to give an interpretative translation to it.

We think that the ghazal is written in a state of love, so tender, that any intended help or favor in any amount would be insufficiently relieving.  If this ghazal is to be condensed in one phrase, akin to a nyāyā, it would be the very perceptively chosen phrase, 'nawaazish-e-mukhtsar'.

The poet is so wary of everyone whom he considers his own, even the person he loves, that he is requesting them to not help him.


Mere humnafas mere humnava mujhe dost banke dagha na de,
Mein hoon dard-e-ishq se jaan ba-lab, mujhe zindagi ki duaa na de

My dear, please don't deceive me by being my 'friend',

I am overwhelmed by the travails of love, don't pray for a longer life for me.

[ The couplet needs to be interpreted by considering the poet's state of mind.  He thinks that he cannot bear any more pain of living. ]

Mere daagh-e-dil se hai raushani, isi raushani se hai zindagi,
Mujhe dar hai ai mere chaaraghar, ye charaag tu hi bujha na de

The pain in my heart brightens my life,

I am afraid, that by relieving the pain you'd bring the darkness again.

[ Again we observe the confusion in the poet's mind, that he's started thinking that pain is the normal state of affairs.  We're reminded of Ghalib's famous:

Nazar lage na kahin unke dasht-o-baazoo ko, 

Kyon ye log mere zakhm-o-jigar ko dekhte hein.

I am afraid that the eyes of people who look at the hurts my beloved gave me,

Would cast an evil eye on her hands.]

Mujhe chodh de mere haal par, tera kya bharosa hai chaaraaghar,
Ye teri nawaazish-e-mukhtsar mera dard aur badhaa na den

Please leave me by myself, dear friend,

Your insufficient attempts at comforting me would make my pain worse.

[ This, in our opinion, is the pièce de résistance of this Ghazal.  If we were to imagine a book by God that contains the most exquisite poetic excerpt, like what Erdős must have imagined about proofs when he spoke about 'Proofs from the book', this couplet would be there.  ]

Mera azm itna buland hai, ke paraaye sholo ka dar nahin,
Mujhe khauf aatish-e-gul se hai, ye kahin chaman ko jalaan na den

My determination would not let the others hurt me,

But I am afraid of the people who are my own. 

Wo uthe hein leke, khum-o-subu, arey ai Shakeel kahan hai tu,
Tera jaam lene ko bazm mein, koi aur haath badha na de.

The cup-bearer just got up with the wine and goblet, Shakeel, where are you?

I fear that someone else would take the drink which is meant for you. 

[ If we were to make a metaphorical interpretation of this couplet, and substitute the beloved for cup-bearer, we'd have a more succulent interpretation. ]

In the end, we couldn't imagine the lyrics without the renditions of Beghum Akhtar and Farida Khanum:

Rekhta Page

Aakhiri Khat

We attempt to translate Faiz's 'Akhiri Khat' (The Last Letter).  We believe that the poem can be divided into three parts.  

In the first part the poet is lamenting about how his life has been useless as far love is concerned and that his end is near.  

Then in the second part he goes on to wonder about how She'd react on hearing about him dead and predicts two possible outcomes.  Either She will, on finding that he died of the travails of love, realize that he was deeply in love with Her and respect his grave and remember his cries for help.  Or She will be mocking him for his stupidity and disrespect his grave.

The third part is about the the fact that whatever She does, laments his death or laugh at him, it doesn't matter after all.  Thus this is the 'Akhiri Khat'. 

[Observation verse]

Vo waqt meri jaan bahut dur nahin hai,

Jab dard se ruk jaayengi sab zeest ki raahen,

Aur had se guzar jaayega andoh-e-nihaani,

Thak jaayengi tarsi hui naakam nigahen,

Chin jaayenge mujhse mere aanson meri aahen,

Chin jaayegi mujhse meri bekaar jawani

The time is not very far my dear,

When the pain will stop the flow of life,

And the hidden/internal pain will overwhelm me,

And my failed eyes will get tired,

And my tears and sighs will be taken away from me,

And so will be my useless youth. 

[Perhaps She'll understand my love verse]

Shayad meri ulfat ko bahut yaad karogi,

Apne dil-e-masoom ko nashaad karogi,

Aaogi meri gor pe tum ashq bahaane,

Nau-khez bahaaron ke hasin phool chadhaane

Perhaps you'll remember my affections,

And make your innocent heart sad,

And come to my grave to shed tears,

And offer the spring's newly sprung flowers

[Perhaps She won't change]

Shayad meri turbat ko bhi thukra ke chalogi,

Shayad meri be-sood vafaaon pe hasogi,

Is vaza-e-karam ka bhi tumhen paas na hoga,

Lekin dil-e-nakaam ko ehsaas na hoga

Perhaps you'll not acknowledge even my grave,

And laugh at my unrequited, futile affections,

And you'd not notice even this favor, [Meaning that she won't understand that she's doing him a favor by coming to his grave, like her other 'favors' that she didn't notice? :D] 

But my ineffective heart won't be able to feel it.

[Either way doesn't matter verse]

Al-qissa ma.aal-e-gham-e-ulfat pe haso tum,

Ya ashq bahaati raho, fariyaad karo tum,

Maazi pe nadaamat ho tumhe ya ki masarrat,

Khamosh pada soyega vamanda-e-ulfat

In short, you laugh at how the pain of unrequited love ended,

Or you cry and pray for atonement(?)

You regret the past or are proud of it,

Either way, I, tired of the loved, would sleep in silence.

Ya rab gham-e-hijraan

Chiragh Hasan Hasrat sung beautifully by Farida Khanum.  An attempt at a literal translation.

Yaa rab gham-e-*hijran mein itna to kiya hota,
Jo haath jigar par hai, wo dast-e-duaa hota

Oh God, you could've at least made me suffer the pain of separation with grace,
The hand I use to comfort my liver should have been used for praying
[i.e. instead of complaining and crying in pain, I should be gracefully praying]

Ummeed to bandh jaati, *taskeen to ho jaati,
Waada na wafa karte, waada to kiya hota

It would have given me some relief and hope,
Even if you had made a false promise

[And we're reminded of Ghalib's famous:
  Tere vaade pe jiye hum, to ye jaan jhooth jaana,
  Ke khushi se mar na jaate, gar aitbaar hota
  Translation, here

  Ta phir na intezaar mein neend aaye umra bhar,
  Aane ka ahad kar gaye, aaye jo khwaab mein
  Translation, here
] 
  
Gairon se kaha tumne, gairon se suna tumne,
Kuch hum se kaha hota, kuch humse suna hota
You discuss your problems with strangers, and expect sympathy
You should have spoken to me about them

Ek ishq ka gham aafat, aur uspe ye dil aafat,
Ya gham na diya hota, ya dil na diya hota
[This is written with an undertone of exasperation caused due to the travails of love]
The pain of love in itself is a big nuisance and added to the annoyances of the desirous heart,
God should have either not given me the pain or not given me the heart

---- Chiragh Hasan Hasrat
Rekhta Page

hijraan = separation 
taskeen = relief

Ye kya ke ek jahan ko --- Sufi Tabassum

An attempt at a literal translation.
Sung by Farida Khanum.

Yeh kya ke ek jahan ko karo *vaqf-e-*iztiraab,
Yeh kya ke ek dil ko *shakeba na kar sako!

You can make the whole world feel discontent with desire for you,
But you can't make even one heart content!
[I think that there are three things being said here:
1. A compliment, that you're so beautiful that the whole world squirms in desire for you :).
2. A complaint that you can't even make one person content.
3. An insinuation that if you be kindly towards me, make my heart content, you won't be considered so cruel ;-)]

Aisa na ho ye dard bane dard-e-la-dawa,
Aisa na ho ke tum bhi *madawa na kar sako

I hope this pain doesn't become so uncurable,
That even you are not able to do anything about it

Shayad tumhe bhi chain na aaye mere bagair
Shayad ye baat tum bhi *gavaaran na kar sako

Perhaps you too would terribly miss me,
Perhaps you too would not be able to bear it!

Allah kare jahan ko meri yaad bhool jaaye,
Allah kare ke tum kabhi aisa na kar sako

I pray that the whole world forgets me,
But God doesn't ever let you do so

Kya jaane phir sitam bhi *mayassar hon ya na hon,
Kya jaane ye karam bhi karo ya na kar sako!

Who knows if even these tyrannies would be possible in the future!
Perhaps the future would be bereft of even these favors

---- Sufi Tabassum
Rekhta page

vaqf : engrossed
iztiraab : restlessness
shakeba : content/patient
gavaaran : bearable/tolerable
madawa : cure
mayassar : possible

Tu uroos-e-shaam-e-khayal bhi --- Suroor Barabankvi

A wonderful, wonderful ghazal by Suroor Barabankvi sung delightfully by Mehnaz Begum and a futile attempt at translation.

Tu *uroos-e-shaam-e-khayal bhi, tu *jamaal-e-ru-e-sahar bhi hai,

Ye zaroor hai, ke *ba i hamah mera *ehtimaam-e-nazar bhi hai

You’re the topic of the evenings of mentation, You’re the soul of the splendor of the morning’s sun,

Nevertheless, I realize that some of it could just be my imagination

Ye mera naseeb hai, humnasheen, sar-e-raah bhi na mile kahin,

Wahi mera *jaada-e-justjoo, wahi unki raah-guzar bhi hai

It was in my fate, that Our paths never crossed,

Even when the road I roam about on is the one which leads to Her home

Tere *qurb ne jo badha diye, kabhi mit sake na wo faasle,

Vahi paanv hein, vahi *aable, vahi apna *zauq-e-safar bhi hai

Your brief nearness to me did increase the distances between us, [i.e. aggravate my longing for Her?] which I could never traverse,

Although my feet's strength, blisters and the taste for wandering never faded

Bahaazar *daanish-o-*aagahi, meri *maslehat hai abhi yahi,

Mein *aseer-e-zulmat-e-shab sahi, meri *dastaras mein sahar bhi hai

I’m not very knowledgeable, but I know this,

Although now I’m suffering in darkness, light is also within my reach

--- Suroor Barabankvi

uroos = bride

jamaal = beauty

ba i hamah = nevertheless

ehtimaam = arrangement

jaada = path

qurb = nearness

aable = fatigue blisters (Thanks for the comment)

zauq = taste

daanish = knowledge

aagahi = awareness

maslehat = understanding

aseer = captive

dastaras = reach

Ye arzoo thi tujhe --- Haider Ali 'Aatish'

Wonderfully sung by both Amanat Ali and Abida Parveen.

Ye arzoo thi tujhe gul ke rubaroo karte
Hum aur bulbul-e-betaab guftgoo karte

I wished that I could make you face a flower
And then try to talk to the flustered nightingale
[In Urdu poetry, Nightangle and Flower are considered lovers. The writer is saying that She's so beautiful that the nightingale will get confused between Her and the flower and that he'll then enjoy talking to the nightingale.]

*Payaambar na *mayassar hua to khoob hua,
Zaabaan-e-*gair se kya *sharh-e-arzoo karte

It's good if a messenger couldn't be afforded
How would I have conveyed my heart through a stranger

Humesha maine *girebaan ko chaak-chaak kiya,
Tamaam umra *rafookar rahe rafoo karte

I always got my collar torn (metaphor for public disgrace)
And the cloth-menders spent their lives mending it
[Meaning that I got myself in trouble constantly and my friends always tried to salvage the situation]

Meri tarah se *mah-o-*mehr bhi hein aawaara,
Kisi *habeeb ki ye bhi hein justjoo karte

The sun and the moon also loiterers like me.
They are also, like me, trying to find a lover
[The relative rotation of the sun and moon around the earth is compared to loitering]

Jo dekhte teri zanjeer-e-zulf ka aalam
*Aseer hone ki aazaad aarzoo karte

If only they witness the charm of being 'fettered' by Your tresses
The Free would wish to be captured

Na pooch *aalam-e-barghashta-taala'i 'Aatish'
Barasti aag jo *baaraan ki arzoo karte

Don't even ask about the ill fortune of "Aatish"
It rained fire when he wished for rain.
[I think there's wordplay in this couplet. Aatish, the writer's nom de plume means fire (a common metaphor for desires), so he's wishing for rain, meaning fulfilling his desires? But instead, the rain Gods rain fire, giving him more desires. We get reminded of Momin's:
Maanga karenge ab se dua hijr-e-yaar ki,
Aakhir ko dushmani hai asar ko dua ke saath

Henceforth I'll pray for separation from my love,
Prayer and dispensation are deep hostile after all
]

--- Haider Ali 'Aatish'

payaambar : messenger
mayassar : afforded
gair : stranger
sharh : describe
rafookar : one who mends torn clothes
mah : moon
mehr : sun
habeeb : lover
aseer : captives
aalam-e-barghashta-taala'i : caprice of ill fortune
baaraan : rain