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.
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
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