Ghalib KI Masnawi - Dar Sifat-e-ambah - {In Praise of Mango}
Afzal A. Khan
Our worthy friend Naseer Saheb has posted a qata' by
Akbar Ilaahabadi, and also an extract from a letter by
Ghalib. To add to this delicious atmosphere, here is
a masnawi written by Ghalib himself, in praise of this
wondrous fruit. The last 8/9 ash'aar are, however, in
praise of Mirza Fakhroo, the heir to the Mughal throne.
I have, therefore, omitted them, as also a few verses
right at the beginning. The remaining verses are like
"aam ka maGHz" !
Aap bhi lutf (ya 'haz' !) uThaaiye !!
Baare aamoN ka kuchh bayaaN ho jaaye
KHaama naKH'l-e-rutab~fishaaN ho jaaye
Aam ka kaun mard-e-maidaaN hai
Samar-o-shaaKH-e-goo(e)-o-chaugaaN hai
Taak ke ji men kyoN rahe armaaN
Aaye, yeh goo~e aur yeh maidaaN
Aam ke aage pesh jaawe KHaak
PhoRta hai jale phaphole taak
Na chala jab kisi tarah maqdoor
Baada(h)-e-naab ban gaya aNgoor
Yeh bhi naa'chaar ji ka khona hai
Sharm se paani paani hona hai
Mujh se poochho tumheN KHabar kya hai
Aam ke aage nai'shakar kya hai
Na gul us men na shaaKH-o-barg, na baar
Jab KHizaaN aaye tab ho us ki bahaar
Aur dauRaaiye qiyaas kahaaN
Jaan-e-sheereeN men yeh miThaas kahaaN
Jaan men hoti gar yeh sheereeni
Koh'kan, bawujood-e-GHamgeeni
Jaan dene men us ko yakta jaan
Par woh yooN sah'l de na sakta jaan
Nazar aata hai yooN mujhe yeh samar
Ke, dawaa~KHaana-e-azal men, magar
Aatish-e-gul pe qaNd ka hai qiwaam
Sheere ke taar ka hai resha naam
Ya yeh hoga ke fart-e-raafat se
BaaGH~baanon ne baaGH-e-jannat se
ANgabeeN ke, ba~hukm-e-Rabb-un-Naas
Bhar ke bheje haiN sar~ba~muhr glass
Ya lagaa kar KHizar ne shaaKH-e-nabaat
MuddatoN tak diya hai aab-e-hayaat
Tab huwa hai samar~fishaaN yeh naKH'l
Hum kahaaN warna aur kahaaN yeh naKH'l
Tha turaNj-e-zar ek KHusrau paas
RaNg ka zard, par kahaaN boo'baas
Aam ko dekhta agar ik baar
PheNk deta tilaa-e-dast~afshaar
Raunaq-e-kaargaah-e-barg-o-nawa
Naazish-e-dood'maan-e-aab-o-hawa
Rah~rav-e-raah-e-KHuld ka tausha
Tooba-o-sidraah ka jigar~gosha
Saaheb-e-shaaKH-o-barg-o-baar hai aam
Naaz~parwarda-e-bahaar hai aam
Afzal
Aroma
Thanks Afzal Saheb.
Mirza Ghalib ki likhi Aamon ke taareef paDhwaane ka shukriya.
Regards,
Khushboo
Naseer
On Jul 2, 10:23 pm, "Afzal A. Khan" <me_af...@invalid.invalid> wrote:
> Our worthy friend Naseer Saheb has posted a qata' by
> Akbar Ilaahabadi, and also an extract from a letter by
> Ghalib. To add to this delicious atmosphere, here is
> a masnawi written by Ghalib himself, in praise of this
> wondrous fruit. The last 8/9 ash'aar are, however, in
> praise of Mirza Fakhroo, the heir to the Mughal throne.
> I have, therefore, omitted them, as also a few verses
> right at the beginning. The remaining verses are like
> "aam ka maGHz" !
I was planning to post this masnavi in the thread that I had started
but you have beaten me to it by starting a new thread. I am glad you
have done so, since I would have copied the whole masnavi. Thank you
for presenting to us its sweetest portion!
> Aap bhi lutf (ya 'haz' !) uThaaiye !!
Whilst I was taking pleasure in reading your post and the poem, I
neively thought of translating it, with a view to making it more
accessible to all ALUPers. Needless to say, my feeble attempt did not
go beyond the first few couplets. It would be nice if you could oblige
for the rest of the poem.
> Baare aamoN ka kuchh bayaaN ho jaaye
> KHaama naKH'l-e-rutab~fishaaN ho jaaye
Do allow me to tell you something about mangoes
Let my quill be the date-palm shedding ripe dates
> Aam ka kaun mard-e-maidaaN hai
> Samar-o-shaaKH-e-goo(e)-o-chaugaaN hai
In this field, what could match a mango
For it is the ball and the bat is its bow
> Taak ke ji men kyoN rahe armaaN
> Aaye, yeh goo~e aur yeh maidaaN
The vine up for a game? What wistful thinking!
Alright then, here is the ball and there is the field
> Aam ke aage pesh jaawe KHaak
> PhoRta hai jale phaphole taak
As vine is no match for the peerless mango
It appeases its wrath with sarchastic words
> Na chala jab kisi tarah maqdoor
> Baada(h)-e-naab ban gaya aNgoor
When there was no way for it to escape
Pure wine it did turn to, our dear grape
> Yeh bhi naa'chaar ji ka khona hai
> Sharm se paani paani hona hai
This was of course out of disappointment and fret
And shame of course is the cause of this sweat
> Mujh se poochho tumheN KHabar kya hai
> Aam ke aage nai'shakar kya hai
Ask me what I do know of this heavanly fruit
Where does sugarcane stand if the mango is about
> Na gul us men na shaaKH-o-barg, na baar
> Jab KHizaaN aaye tab ho us ki bahaar
Oh but it has no flower, no leaf and bow, no fruit
It blossoms when the season of decay is about
> Aur dauRaaiye qiyaas kahaaN
> Jaan-e-sheereeN men yeh miThaas kahaaN
And how far should we allow our imaginations go
Sweet soul itself is inspid compared with the mango
> Jaan men hoti gar yeh sheereeni
> Koh'kan, bawujood-e-GHamgeeni
Had life possessed such sweetness
And despite his state of bitter sadness
> Jaan dene men us ko yakta jaan
> Par woh yooN sah'l de na sakta jaan
Consider Farhaad incomparable in giving up his life
But he too could not, with such ease give up his life
Over to you Afzal Sahib or anyone else who would care to help me out.
iHsaan-mand,
Naseer
Afzal A. Khan
Mukarramee Naseer Saheb,
"Verily,
Erato has been kind to thee"
You have done such a grand job of providing a poetic
translation of these ash'aar that readers could be
forgiven for putting the original "masnawi" on the
back-burner !
But, seriously, I was having a different line of thought.
There are a few unfamiliar nouns and some literary-cum-
religious allusions in the poem, which may require some
explanation for the uninitiated. Perhaps you may like to
spend some time over that.
I have talked about 'Erato'. Here is a bit of "Errata".
neively = naively
wistful = Perhaps you meant "wishful"
sarchastic = sarcastic
heavanly = heavenly
inspid = insipid
Afzal
baya...@gmail.com
we would be glad if you will come and join our page and enrich it with everything to do with Mangoes!
http://www.facebook.com/pages/I-love-Mangoes/471105469573614
With best regards
TK