By Mirza Ghalib (1797-1869)
[The following translation of Ghalib’s ghazal, along with the original ghazal in Roman script and comments are by Asghar Vasanwala. Ed.]
Dear friends,
To day I am presenting Ghalib’s famous Ghazal HazaroN KhwahisheN aisi….. along with its English translation and comments. I am also sending you its audio link. It is sung by Master Kalim.
For listening Master Kalim sing the Ghazal, please click here: http://lists.elistx.com/archives/blank/200805/mp35qcYAkAEPw.mp3
Enjoy. Please do write me how you liked it. It will give me encouragement.
Vas Salam,
Asghar Vasanwala
asgharf@att.net
May 30, 2009
Hazaaron khwahisheN aisi ke har KHwahish pe dum nikle
Bohot nikle mere armaan, lekin phir bhi kam nikle
I have thousands of desires, each worth dying for…
Many of my desires got realized…yet I feel it was too little…
(Ghalib always wants more and different. Word Satisfaction is not in his dictionary. When Ghalib conquers one star, he says there are many more adventures ahead. This theme runs throughout his divan, his poem book)
Darey kyoN mera qaatil? kya rahega us ki gardan par?
Voh khoon, jo chashm-e-tar se, umr bhar, yoon dam-ba-dam nikle
Why my killer (my beloved) is afraid? There is no legal blood charge on her neck
For the blood that continuously surged from my eyes during my life time
(It was not her fault that I wept blood whole life and died because of it; no murder charges be filed against her. My blood cannot stay on her neck.)
Nikalna KHuld se aadam ka sunte aaye haiN lekin
Bahot be-aabru hokar tere kooche se hum nikle
We hear story of Adam how he was thrown out from Heaven (with biggest disgrace)
With worst disgrace, I am thrown out from your street.
(Ghalib always considers that the street on which his beloved lives is far superior to heaven because it is so lively. Adam was thrown out of heaven for eating apple thus crossing the prohibited limit. Ghalib says I was thrown out of my heaven, my beloved’s street, with worst disgrace than that faced by Adam. Actually Ghalib is boasting that insult he suffered is worst than that suffered by Adam. In that sense he is superior to Adam)
Bharam khul jaaye zaalim! tere qamat ki darazi ka
Agar is tuara-e-pur pech-o-KHam ke, pech-o-KHam nikle
Oh sweet tyrant, your true tallness can be fathomed
Only if your hair locks, which you have tied up, get untied
(Then people will notice that your hair are longer than your height. Long hair is a beauty)
(I think, Ghalib considers hip and breast area of beloved like knots in a rope; her slim legs, her narrow waist, and her long neck are like a rope. If these knots are unknotted, she will look very tall. Meaning she is hiding her true height in these knots. Urdu poets love tall women. They call them Sarv qad or tall like a cypress. Traditional explanation of this verse is: Turra-e- pur pech-o-kham means her curled hair. If and when they will get uncurled, it will reveal that they are longer than her height. I think my explanation sounds better)
Magar likhvaaye koi usko KHat, to hum se likhvaaye
Hui subaha, aur ghar se, kaan par rakh kar qalam nikle
If someone wants to write her a letter, please hire me
Every morning I am out with a pen on my ear, (so you may identify me)
(I want to find out who are other lovers and what they want to write to her)
Hui is daur mein mansoob mujh se baada aasami
phir aaya voh zamana, jo jahaN meiN jam-e-jam nikle
In this age, drinking-championship is won by me
After the Iranian King Jmashed (who invented wine), it is my turn holding drinking record and famous wine cup “Jam-e-Jam”
(Ghalib is boasting about his super capacity of consuming wine)
Huyee jin se tavaqqo KHastagi ki daad paane ki
Voh hum se bhi zyada kushta-e-tegh-e-sitam nikle
From those whom I had anticipated empathy for my wretched condition
I sadly found, sword of disaster had struck them harder, then me
(It is fact of life that when we tell our problems and trouble to friends, to earn their sympathy, they tell us their own story; how badly they have suffered in life. They want us to sympathies them instead)
Mohobbat meiN nahin hai farq jine aur marne ka
Oosi ko dekh kar jitay haiN, jis kaafir pe dam nikle
In love, there is no difference between life and death
Her looks give me life, yet the same looks kill me
Zara kar zor seene par ki teer-e-pur-sitam nikle
Jo woh nikle to dil nikle, jo dil nikle to dam nikle
Put some pressure on my chest and pull out that cruel arrow (That your gaze implanted in my heart)
if the arrow comes out, my heart also will come out along with the arrow. If my heart comes out my breath will come out and I will have fortune to die at your hands. (Many Diwans do not include this verse)
KHuda ke vaaste parda na kaabe se uthaa vaiz
Kaheen aisa na ho yaaN bhi wohi kafir sanam nikle
Oh preacher! For god’s sake, don’t lift the curtain off Kaaba.
What if the same (kicked out) idols are still lurking underneath?
(In Abraham’s time there were no idols in Kaaba. However, in later period Arabs installed idols in Kaaba and started worshipping them. Prophet Mohammed like Abraham was a monotheist. He uninstalled those false Gods.
Kaaba, the cubical structure in Mecca, is covered with black curtains. Ghalib mischievously says there may still idols lurking behind these curtains; so please do not lift them and expose what is hidden. Remember, beloved is also called idol or Diva. For Sufi God is their beloved. The verse is beautiful and thought provoking. It may also mean that though many call themselves Muslims but under their bosom they still carry false Gods. So, don’t look under their bosoms, you’ll get shocked)
(Many Diwans do not include this verse)
KahaN maiKHane ka darwaza Ghalib, aur kahaN vaaiz
par itna jantay haiN, kal voh jaata tha ke hum nikle
Lowly door of sinful tavern and pious preacher are antithesis
Yet, I can vouch: yesterday while I was leaving the tavern, he was stepping in
Ghalib says that though his religious preacher stresses prohibition on alcohol, yesterday he found the same preacher visiting his (Ghalib’s) pub.