Hazaron Khawaishen Aisi

by Anisur Rahman

  Main bhi hoon ek inaayat ki nazar hote tak

  Ek nazar besh nahi fursat-e hasti ghaafil

  Garmiy-i bazm hai ik raqs-e sharar hote tak

  Gham-e hasti ka Asad kis se ho juz marg ilaaj

  Shama har rung mein jalti hai sehar hote tak

  2

  My wails need a lifetime to reach the heart, wait, O wait

  But who can live that long to see it reach, wait, O wait

  Hundred circles in each eddy, hundred crocodiles too

  See what happens till the drops become pearls, wait, O wait

  Love demands patience; desire takes no pleas ever

  What to do till my heart breathes her last, wait, O wait

  I’m sure you would not be careless; would surely pay heed

  But I would be ashes before you said, wait, O wait

  The dew has learnt of dying only from the sunrays

  I too will live till I get a kind look, wait, O wait

  O the careless one! Life would not give you a wink more

  The assembly is agog till flames dance, wait, O wait

  But who can cure the pains of life and living, Asad?

  The lamp burns in every hue till dawn’s break, wait, O wait

  14

  Momin Khan Momin

  Momin Khan Momin (1800–1851), whose father and grandfather were court physicians, was born, educated and settled in Delhi. He received his education at the famous Shah Abdul Qadir’s school, under the coveted guidance of Shah Abdul Aziz, a celebrated theologian and reformer of the times. Momin received a wide exposure to a variety of disciplines including medicine, mathematics and astrology as well as to languages like Arabic, Persian and Urdu. Music and chess were his other areas of keen interest which he cultivated with care.

  Momin was essentially a poet of romantic love which he expressed best in the form of ghazal. The lover in his poetry is one of amorous disposition; he expresses his love along with lust, and sees lust as a part of life’s romance. As Momin dwelt upon the psychology of the lover, he explored his moods and reflexes, as also his erotic and sexual tendencies. In celebrating romantic love in all its manifestations, he drew upon the chastity of diction, mixing deeply nuanced phrases for a metaphysical apprehension of the phenomenon of love and the figure of the lover. Momin was an aesthete; he personalized his material which distinguishes him from many other poets who objectified them. Apart from his Urdu divaan, Momin also left behind a Persian divaan, and other works in prose.

  1

  Asar us ko zaraa naheen hota

  Ranj raahat fizaa naheen hota

  Bewafaa kahne ki shikaayat hai

  To bhi waada wafaa naheen hota

  Kis ko hai zauq talkh kaami ka

  Jung bin kuchh mazaa naheen hota

  Tum hamaare kisee tarah na hue

  Warna dunya mein kyaa naheen hota

  Imtehaan keejiye mera jab tak

  Shauq zor aazmaa naheen hota

  Naarsaayi se dum ruke to ruke

  Main kisee se khafaa naheen hota

  Tum mere pass hote ho goya

  Jab koee doosaraa naheen hota

  Haal-e dil yaar ko likhoon kyunkar

  Haath dil se judaa naheen hota

  Daaman us ka jo hai daraaz to ho

  Dast-e aashiq rasaa naheen hota

  Chara-i-dil sewaai sabr naheen

  So tumhaare siwa naheen hota

  Kyun sune arz-e muztarab Momin

  Sanam aakhir Khuda naheen hota

  1

  She takes no pretence, no pleas

  Misery brings no calm, no ease

  She resents being called faithless

  But meets her promise so less

  Whoever likes to speak bitter

  But no pleasure without jitters

  You couldn’t be mine for all I did

  Or else, the world would be my bid

  You test me as long as you wish

  But my wishes can’t be selfish

  The breath may lose track in despair

  But my displeasure would be rare

  You are mine when none else is mine

  None else but you alone are mine

  How to write, my love, how’s my heart

  I can’t take my hand off my heart

  Sure, that kindness may be endless

  Sure, but lovers don’t seek access

  Patience alone may save the heart

  Heart has no patience with you apart

  Why should Momin implore for a nod

  She is only my love, not my God

  2

  Royaa karenge aap bhi pehron isee tarah

  Atka kaheen jo aap ka dil bhi meri tarah

  Aataa naheen hai wo to kisee dhab se daao mein

  Banti naheen hai milne ki us se koee tarah

  Tashbeeh kis se doon ke tarah daar ki mere

  Sab se niraali waza hai sab se naee tarah

  Mar chuk kaheen ke tu gham-e hijraan se chhoot jaai

  Kahte to hain bhale ki wa lekin buri tarah

  Nay taab hijr mein hai na aaraam wasl mein

  Kambakht dil ko chayn naheen hai kisee tarah

  Lagti hain gaaliyan bhi tere munh se kya bhali

  Qurbaan tere! Phir mujhe keh ley isee tarah

  Paamaal hum na hote faqat jaur-e charkh se

  Aai hamaari jaan pe aafat kaee tarah

  Maashooq aur bhi hain bataa de jahaan mein

  Kartaa hai kaun zulm kisee per teri tarah

  Nay jaai waan bane hai na bin jaai chayn hai

  Kya keejiye hamein to hai mushkil sabhee tarah

  Hoon jaan balab butaan-e sitamgar ke haath se

  Kya sab jahaan mein jeete hain Momin isee tarah

  2

  You would see no end ever, you too would cry like me

  Ensnared in this love, you too would ever sigh like me

  I can’t take her in confidence, whatever I do

  I can’t even see her; I can only sigh like me

  What similes can I bring for my stylish love

  Can’t describe her form and moving if I try like me

  ‘Die a death; seek a release from the pains of parting’

  That’s only a truth but harshly told to die like me

  There’s no patience in parting, in meeting no relief

  This very silly heart of mine can only vie like me

  Even the abuses from your sweet lips sound so sweet

  I would just bet my life, take me on and try like me

  I wouldn’t be ruined ever only by the divine will

  But I had many a blow to help me die like me

  There are so many lovers here but does anyone

  Ever bear the pains of loving just to die like me

  I’m restless if I go to her, restive if I don’t

  There is no letting go, I can only die like me

  I count my breath, Momin, thanks to my unkind love

  Do all the lovers in this world decry like me?

  15

  Nawab Mirza Khan Dagh Dehlavi

  Nawab Mirza Khan Dagh Dehlavi (1831–1905) was born and brought up in the Red Fort of Delhi, where his mother was married to Prince Mirza Mohammad Sultan, son of Bahadur Shah Zafar II. After his father’s death, he had to leave the Red Fort, and after the fall of Delhi in 1857, he had to move to Rampur where he lived in comfort for more than a decade. Later, his changing fortunes, for good or bad, took him to other centres of renown like Lucknow, Patna, Calcutta and Hyderabad.

  As a disciple of Sheikh Ibrahim Zauq himself, and with many eminent disciples to his own credit, Dagh deliberated upon the aesthetic principles of ghazal as a form of intimate poetic conversation. He charged the common speech and combined the poetic manners of the Lucknow and Delhi schools. In its totality, Dagh’s poetry is idiomatic and appealing, laden with emotions and good humour. He did not take the idea of love to philosophical heights but engaged with the experience of love at a human level, bringing it close to eroticism. Cumulatively, he is playful with language, least Persianized i
n his diction, witty with the turn of phrases, urbane in addressing, and full of gaiety and simplicity in the quintessential approach to his material. Apart from his four divaans, representing the last hallmarks of classical poetry, he has left behind a bunch of letters and a narrative poem on his love-life, titled Faryaad-e Dagh.

  1

  Uzr aane mein bhi hai aur bulaate bhi naheen

  Baa’is-e tark-e mulaaqaat bataate bhi naheen

  Muntazir hai dam-e rukhsat ke ye jaai to jaaein

  Phir ye ehsaan ke hum chhod ke jaate bhi naheen

  Sar uthhaao to sahi aankh milaao to sahee

  Nasha-i mai bhi naheen neend ke maate bhi naheen

  Kya kaha phir to kaho hum nahi sunte teri

  Naheen sunte to hum aison ko bataate bhi naheen

  Khoob pardaa hai ke chilman se lage baithhe hain

  Saaf chhupte bhi naheen saamne aate bhi naheen

  Mujh se laaghar teri aankhon mein khatakte to rahe

  Tujh se naazuk meri aankhon mein samaate bhi naheen

  Daikhte hi teri mehfil mein ye irshaad hua

  Kaun baithha hai ise log uthhaate bhi naheen

  Ho chuka tark-e ta’alluq to jafaaein kyun hon

  Jin ko matlab nahi rehtaa wo sataate bhi naheen

  Zeest se tang ho ai Dagh to jeete kyun ho

  Jaan pyari bhi naheen jaan se jaate bhi naheen

  1

  She has a plea for not coming, doesn’t call me either

  But her reasons for not coming, doesn’t tell me either

  She waits for my last breath to say the last goodbye

  Just to show her favour to me she can’t leave either

  Now lift your head, look into my eyes and let me see

  Love! You are neither so drunk, nor so sleepy either

  What did you say; say again, that you wouldn’t listen to me

  If you wouldn’t, I too wouldn’t say a word to you either

  What a veil you keep, my love, hanging close to lattice

  Being not so fully hidden, showing not so fully either

  Such a frail one like me has irked your eyes forever

  So a delicate one like you can’t fit my eyes either

  Just as she spotted me in the assembly, she said

  Who’s this sitting here, why isn’t he removed either?

  Now that we have parted, why should we ever pretend?

  We being such strangers, we should not bother either

  If so tired of this life, why do you live this life, Dagh?

  It’s not dear to you; you don’t leave this life either

  2

  Dil gaya tum ne liya hum kya karein

  Jaane waali cheez thee gham kya karein

  Hum ne mar kar hijr mein paayi shafa

  Aise achhon ka wo maatam kya karein

  Apne hi gham se naheen milti nijaat

  Is benaa per fikr-e ‘aalam kya karein

  Kar chuke sab apni apni hikmatein

  Dum nikaltaa ho to hum dum kya karein

  Poore honge apne armaan kis tarah

  Shauq behad waqt hai kam kya karein

  Bakhsh bhi dein pyar ki gustakhiyaan

  Dil hi qaaboo mein naheen hum kya karein

  Tund khoo hai kab sune wo dil ki baat

  Aur bhi barham ko barham kya karein

  Aik saaghar per hai apni zindagi

  Rafta rafta is se bhi kam kya karein

  Dil ne seekha shewa-i begaanagi

  Aise naamehram ko mehram kya karein

  2

  You robbed me of my heart, what can I do?

  It was meant to be robbed, what can I do?

  I got my cure when I died in parting

  If none to mourn such a one, what can I do?

  I cannot get release from my own pains ever

  How can I worry for the world, what can I do?

  All of them have tried their hands to save that love

  If she breathes last, what can you do, what can I do?

  How can I fulfil my desires, how indeed?

  Desires aplenty, time short, what can I do?

  Forgive me my insolence in love, my love

  If the heart gets out of hand, what can I do?

  She is quick-tempered; she does not listen to me

  Why annoy the annoyed one, what can I do?

  My life rests now on a cup of wine for me

  Now live on less than a cup? What can I do?

  You know so well how to turn a stranger

  To make the stranger a friend, what can I do?

  Muamila hai aaj husn-o-ishq ka

  Dekhiye wo kya karein hum kya karein

  Aaeena hai aur wo hain dekhiye

  Faisala donon ye baaham kya karein

  Keh rahe ahl-e sifaarish mujh se Dagh

  Teri qismat hai buri hum kya karein

  It’s a matter between a lover and the beloved

  Now let me see what she does, what can I do?

  This is a mirror and that is she, just see

  They must decide by themselves, what can I do?

  Those who hold a plea for me, tell me, Dagh

  You surely have bad luck, what can I do?

  ADVENT OF MODERNISM

  It was during the mid-nineteenth century that the Urdu ghazal showed the first signs of what may be called the ‘modern’ sensibility. After the first war of independence (1857), life and times had greatly changed. The days of the nobles being patrons to the poets were over, as lives of luxury and glamour associated with Delhi and Lucknow had become stories of the past. The poet was now a common man left on his own, living in an age of great socio-political transition. He had to grapple with the realities of the new world and expand the frontiers of his knowledge and perception. He had to reconfigure his idiom and reorient his metaphor to execute his uniquely different experiences in a language liberated from the constraints of the iconic Persian. As there was no room left for the purely romantic perceptions of life and for linguistic mannerisms, the poets were to evolve a new poetics for their new age. Thus, they tried to discover their modes of discernment and expression by adhering partially to the older norms, now rejecting them altogether, but most often, by striking a balance between the two. They replaced the old myths of love and longing with the new metaphors of human bonding, just as they replaced the traditional penchant for sentimentality with irony and rationality. They expanded the hinterlands of traditional references to find space for the mundane and the metaphysical, along with the political and the apolitical. In doing this, they operated in a larger frame of references to present a world-view of greater complexity. These poets defined the tone and tenor of the modern ghazal broadly until the mid-twentieth century, but more importantly, they made way for the emergence of newer versions of the modernist ghazal in the more consequential decades of the twentieth century.

  The lingering shadows of Macaulay’s Minutes on Education (1835), Charles Wood’s despatch on education (1854) and the first war of independence (1857) fell on the current realities, which included Gandhi’s arrival on the Indian scene (1914), the Khilafat and Non-Cooperation movements (1920), the Civil Disobedience Movement (1930), the Government of India Act (1935), the Independence and Partition of India (1947) and the dawn of the new Indian state. These were directly or indirectly, metaphorically or mythically, represented by a larger variety of poets with diverse social, cultural, political and philosophical affiliations.

  16

  Khwaja Altaf Hussain Hali

  Khwaja Altaf Hussain Hali (1837–1914) was born in Panipat, where he also received his early education. On coming to Delhi, he learnt Arabic and Persian and received patronage from two major poets, Mirza Asadullah Khan Ghalib and Mohammad Mustafa Khan Shefta. After Shefta’s death, he left for Lahore and joined the Punjab Government Book Depot, where he got an opportunity to read Western literature. Hali paid serious heed to Mohammad Hussain Azad’s call for the new Urdu poem and Sir Syed Ahmad Khan’s call for rationalism in social, political and educational matters of the Muslims. Thes
e two influences determined his future course of development as a poet, critic, commentator, biographer and translator.

  Hali started writing as a poet of the traditional Urdu ghazal. Later, he initiated a more serious phase of his literary career, which also marked the beginning of modernism in Urdu literature. He made a major case for simplicity of expression and seriousness of thought and purpose. His engagement with the writing of ameliorative poetry explains his distaste for the panegyric ghazal which, he argued, could no longer sustain the burden of new consciousness. Instead, he emphasized the contemporary relevance of narrative poetry and made a case for ‘natural poetry’, shorn of sentimentality and tied to reality. While Hali wrote in various forms, he developed a composite view of life and art in close association with each other. His Muqaddama-i Sher-o shairi is, in many respects, the first critical manifesto of Urdu poetry, like Wordsworth’s ‘Preface to the Lyrical Ballads’. It is an anthology of ideas concerning the nature of true art, its language, the parameters of its creation, and the making of taste. In Madd-o jazar-e Islam, he reflected upon the trials and travails of Islam. In Tiryaaq-e Masmoom, he developed a discourse on religious disputation, while in Majaalis-un Nisaa, he projected an argument in favour of women’s’ education in a fictional framework. Tabaqaat-ul Arz is his translation of an Arabic discourse. Hali wrote sober and scientific prose, plain and persuasive poetry, broadly representing a case of art for life’s sake. Hali’s biographies of Sir Syed Ahmad Khan, Asadullah Khan Ghalib and Persian poet Shekhi Sadi remain authentic sources till this day.

  1

  Hai justujoo ke khoob se hai khoob tar kahaan

  Ab thhehrti hai dekhiye jaa kar nazar kahaan

  Hain daur-e jaam awwal-e shab mein khudi se door

  Hoti hai aaj dekhiye hum ko sahar kahaan

  Yaa Rab is ikhtilaat ka anjaam ho bakhair

  Thaa us ko hum se rubt magar is qadar kahaan

  Ek ‘umr chaahiye ke gawaara ho naish-e ishq

  Rakhhi hai aaj lazzat-e zakhm-e jigar kahaan

  Bus ho chuka bayaan kasal-o ranj raah ka

  Khat ka mere jawaab hai ai nama bar kahaan

  Koon-o makaan se hai dil-e wahshi kinaara geer

  Is khanama kharaab ne dhoonda hai ghar kahaan

  Hum jis pe mar rahe hain wo hai baat hi kuchh aur

  Aalam mein tujh se laakh sahi too magar kahaan

  Hoti nahin qubool dua tark-e ishq ki

  Dil chahtaa na ho to dua mein asar kahaan