Ghailb's Persian poetry
Vijay Kumar
translated into Urdu and Englsish verse by Iftikhar Ahmad Adani and
Ralph Russell respectively. I thought I shall post a few verses from a
favorite of mine that has also been translated into Punjabi by Sufi
Ghulam Mustafa Tabbasum (and sung beautifully by Ghulam Ali*). So here
goes: first Faarsi, then Urdu, then Punjabi and lastly Englsih
versions of a few asha'ar from this ghazal. I have only selected the
ones that have been sung by Ghulam Ali as those are the only ones
available in Panjabi. One of these (no. 3)is missing from my book but
a while back, Jamil Ahmad Sahib had supplied this one too, so I am
borrowing this one from ALUP archives:
1.zaman agar na bood (?bavad) BAAVAR intezaar be'aa
bahaana jooe mabaash va satiizah-kaar be'aa
2.v'daa-o-vasl judaagaana lazzate daarad
hazaar baar baro, sad hazaar baar be'aa
3.to tifl-e-saadah-dil o ham-nashin bad-aamooz-ast
janaaza gar na-tavaan deed, bar mazaar be'aa
4.rivaaj-e-soma'h hastee-st zeenhaar ma-ro
mata'a-e-maikadah mastee-st hushiyaar be'aa
5.hisaar aafiyate gar havas kuni Ghalib
chuuma ba halqa-e-riNdaan-e-Khaak-saar be'aa
--------------------------------------------------
1.tujhe hai veham nahiiN mujh ko iNtizaar aaja
bahaana chhoR merii jaaN satiizah-kaar aaja
2.v'daa-o-vasal haiN donoN kii lazzteN apni
hazaar baar juda ho ke laakh vaar aaja
3. This she'r is missing from my book, so Urdu and Englsih translation
are alos missing:-(
4. rivaaj-e-somaah hasti hai us taraf mat ja
m'taa-e-maikadah mastii hai hoshiaar aaja
5. hisaar-e-aman kii Khwaahish hai gar tujhe ghalib
myaan-e-halqa-e-riNdaan-e-Khaak-saar aaja
------------------------------------------------------
1.mere shauq da nahiiN aitbaar teN nuuN aa jaa vekh meraa intezaar aa
jaa
aiNveN laRan b'haane labhnaa iiN, kii tuu sochanaa iiN sitamgaar aa
jaa
2.bhaaveN hij'r te bhaaveN visaal hove, vakkho vakkh dohaan diiaaN
lazttaN neN
mere sohniaa jaa tuu hzaar vaarii, aa jaa piaaria te lakkh vaar aa
jaa
3.eh rivaaz ai masjidaaN maNdiraaN da, othe hastiiaaN te Khud
parastiiaaN neN
maiKhaane vicch mastiiaaN ii mastiiaaN neN, hosh kar ban ke hoshiaar
aa jaa
4.tuu saada te tera dil saadaa, teN nuuN aiNveN raqiib kuraah paaia
je tuuN mere janaaze te nahiiN aaia, raah takdaa ii terii m'zaar aa
jaa
5.sukhii vassna je tuuN chauhnaa eN, mere ghaliba ais j'haan andar
aajaa riNdaaN dii bazam vicch aa beh jaa, aithe baithde neN
Khaaksaar aa ja
-----------------------------------------------------------
1. You cannot think my life is spent in waiting? Well then, come!
Seek no excuses; arm yourself for battle and then come!
2. Parting and meeting-each of them has its distinctive joy
Leave me a hundred times; turn back a thousand times, and come!
3. See above.
4. The mosque is all awareness. Mid you never go that way
The tavern is all ecstasy. So be aware, and come!
5. If you desire a refuge, Ghalib, there to dwell secure
Find it within the circle of us reckless ones, and come!
-----------------------------------------------------------
The Punjabi translation of Mustafa Tabbasum seem to be at variance
here and there (in the very first she'r for instance) but it is truer
to the spirit of Ghalib's poetry than the English translation, which
may be true to the word but is very prosaiac and bland in my opinion.
Also Punjabi version is in a longer behar, most liley required to do
justice to the spirit of the original. Urdu tranlation has maintianed
the same behar. Hence, whereas Urdu version is a faithful and accurate
translation, Punjabi one seems to be part interpretation.
* I recently had the opportunity of an audience with Ghulam Ali where
he stated that this ghazal (the Punjabi version) is by far the most
requested ghazal for him to sing. When Sufi Ghulam Mustafa Tabbasum
translated it, he wouldn't agree to anyone else singing it but Ghulam
Ali. He (G.A.) was apparently out of the country for a while and
Mustafa Tabbasum insisted that everyone waited till his return before
he will agree to a recording. This from Ghulam Ali himself!
Regards,
Vijay Kumar
P.S. The word v'daa (in she'r no. 2) is very similar to the hindi
vidaa, meaning parting. Could the root for both be sanskrit?
paabagil
> I recently acquired a book of Persian poetry by Ghalib that has been
> translated into Urdu and Englsish verse by Iftikhar Ahmad Adani and
> Ralph Russell respectively. I thought I shall post a few verses from a
> favorite of mine that has also been translated into Punjabi by Sufi
> Ghulam Mustafa Tabbasum (and sung beautifully by Ghulam Ali*). So here
> goes: first Faarsi, then Urdu, then Punjabi and lastly Englsih
> versions of a few asha'ar from this ghazal. I have only selected the
> ones that have been sung by Ghulam Ali as those are the only ones
> available in Panjabi. One of these (no. 3)is missing from my book but
> a while back, Jamil Ahmad Sahib had supplied this one too, so I am
> borrowing this one from ALUP archives:
>
> 1.zaman agar na bood (?bavad) BAAVAR intezaar be'aa
> bahaana jooe mabaash va satiizah-kaar be'aa
>
> 2.v'daa-o-vasl judaagaana lazzate daarad
> hazaar baar baro, sad hazaar baar be'aa
>
> 3.to tifl-e-saadah-dil o ham-nashin bad-aamooz-ast
> janaaza gar na-tavaan deed, bar mazaar be'aa
>
> 4.rivaaj-e-soma'h hastee-st zeenhaar ma-ro
> mata'a-e-maikadah mastee-st hushiyaar be'aa
>
> 5.hisaar aafiyate gar havas kuni Ghalib
> chuuma ba halqa-e-riNdaan-e-Khaak-saar be'aa
janaab Vijay saahib:
Ghalib kee Ghazal aur us ke taraajim paish karne kaa shukriya.
ittalaa'an arz hai k is Ghazal meN kul 11 ash'aar haiN.
> --------------------------------------------------
>
> 1.tujhe hai veham nahiiN mujh ko iNtizaar aaja
> bahaana chhoR merii jaaN satiizah-kaar aaja
>
> 2.v'daa-o-vasal haiN donoN kii lazzteN apni
> hazaar baar juda ho ke laakh vaar aaja
>
> 3. This she'r is missing from my book, so Urdu and Englsih translation
> are alos missing:-(
mahaaraaj, aaKhir ham kis din kaam aa'yeN ge, ye kamee ham pooree
ki'ye dete haiN :)
too tifl e saada-dil o ham-nisheeN bad-aamooz ast
janaaza gar na tuvaaN deed, bar mazaar biyaa
too saaada-lauh bahut aur raqeeb hai bad-Khoo
janaaze par naheeN aataa to bar mazaar aa jaa :))
You are naive, and the rival ill-mannered
If you can't attend the funeral, at least on the grave come!
hehehehe. Ghalib kee rooh se ma'azarat!
>
> 4. The mosque is all awareness. Mid you never go that way
> The tavern is all ecstasy. So be aware, and come!
>
> 5. If you desire a refuge, Ghalib, there to dwell secure
> Find it within the circle of us reckless ones, and come!
>
> -----------------------------------------------------------
>
> The Punjabi translation of Mustafa Tabbasum seem to be at variance
> here and there (in the very first she'r for instance) but it is truer
> to the spirit of Ghalib's poetry than the English translation, which
> may be true to the word but is very prosaiac and bland in my opinion.
> Also Punjabi version is in a longer behar, most liley required to do
> justice to the spirit of the original. Urdu tranlation has maintianed
> the same behar. Hence, whereas Urdu version is a faithful and accurate
> translation, Punjabi one seems to be part interpretation.
>
> * I recently had the opportunity of an audience with Ghulam Ali where
> he stated that this ghazal (the Punjabi version) is by far the most
> requested ghazal for him to sing. When Sufi Ghulam Mustafa Tabbasum
> translated it, he wouldn't agree to anyone else singing it but Ghulam
> Ali. He (G.A.) was apparently out of the country for a while and
> Mustafa Tabbasum insisted that everyone waited till his return before
> he will agree to a recording. This from Ghulam Ali himself!
> Regards,
>
>
> Vijay Kumar
>
> P.S. The word v'daa (in she'r no. 2) is very similar to the hindi
> vidaa, meaning parting. Could the root for both be sanskrit?
hmmmm. baat to aap ne pate kee kee hai. agar ye Farsi kaa lafz hotaa
to ham bai-khaTke keh dete k is lafz (vidaa') aur Urdu vidaa/bidaa kee
asl aik hee hai. lekin mas'ala ye hai k ye lafz Arabi kaa hai aur ham
jaante haiN k Arabi kaa Khaandaan Hindustani zabaanoN se baarah
patthar alag hai.
parantu ye bhee dekhi'ye k aksar auqaat alfaaz aise safar karte haiN k
hairat hotee hai. maiN ne kaafee pehle likhaa thaa k Qur'an meN 4
alfaaz Sanskrit ke haiN. ho saktaa hai k ye lafz bhee unhee kee qabeel
meN se ho. ham jaante haiN k Hazrat Muhammad ke 2 sahaabee (companion)
Indian the. jin meN se aik kaa naam Hazrat Ratan thaa.
aadaab arz hai,
Zafar
Afzal A. Khan
Vijay Kumar wrote:
> 2.v'daa-o-vasl judaagaana lazzate daarad
> hazaar baar baro, sad hazaar baar be'aa
> 2.v'daa-o-vasal haiN donoN kii lazzteN apni
> hazaar baar juda ho ke laakh vaar aaja
------------------------------------------------------
> 2. Parting and meeting-each of them has its distinctive joy
> Leave me a hundred times; turn back a thousand times, and come!
> Vijay Kumar
>
> P.S. The word v'daa (in she'r no. 2) is very similar to the hindi
> vidaa, meaning parting. Could the root for both be sanskrit?
Jaisa ke Zafar Saheb ne farmaaya, yeh lafz Arabi ka hai.
Aap ko yaqeenan "Anarkali" ka woh mash~hoor gaana yaad
ho ga : "Yeh zindagi usi ki hai.." jis men yeh lafz
"'al~widaa'" iste'maal huwa hai. Arabi aur Sanskrit ka
yeh ta'alluq to koi etymologist hee bata sakta hai.
(The similarity is uncanny.)
Afzal
Sushil Sharma
> > P.S. The word v'daa (in she'r no. 2) is very similar to the hindi
> > vidaa, meaning parting. Could the root for both be sanskrit?
>
> hmmmm. baat to aap ne pate kee kee hai. agar ye Farsi kaa lafz hotaa
> to ham bai-khaTke keh dete k is lafz (vidaa') aur Urdu vidaa/bidaa kee
> asl aik hee hai. lekin mas'ala ye hai k ye lafz Arabi kaa hai aur ham
> jaante haiN k Arabi kaa Khaandaan Hindustani zabaanoN se baarah
> patthar alag hai.
>
> parantu ye bhee dekhi'ye k aksar auqaat alfaaz aise safar karte haiN k
> hairat hotee hai. maiN ne kaafee pehle likhaa thaa k Qur'an meN 4
> alfaaz Sanskrit ke haiN. ho saktaa hai k ye lafz bhee unhee kee qabeel
> meN se ho. ham jaante haiN k Hazrat Muhammad ke 2 sahaabee (companion)
> Indian the. jin meN se aik kaa naam Hazrat Ratan thaa.
>
> aadaab arz hai,
>
> Zafar
I have not seen the word "vidaa" used in Sanskrit, in the
sense of "parting" (or any related sense). Apte's Sanskrit
dictionary doesn't mention the word in this sense. While
Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary does mention
"permission to go away, dismissal with good wishes" as the
last of several meanings of the word "vidaa", it also
adds that "in this sense, perhaps not a Sanskrit word;
cf. (Arabic) vid'a". I am sure the only reason for inclusion
of this meaning and its adjoining comment in M-W, would be some very
rare usage in very late Sanskrit works, attributable to influence
of Perso-Arabic vocabulary. There are other words seen in
very late Sanskrit works, that are similarly attributable to
influence of Arabic and Persian. So, IMHO, it can be safely
assumed that "vidaa" in current Hindi/Urdu usage, comes
from Arabic, without any Sanskrit connection.
Regards,
Sushil
paabagil
Sushil saahib:
Welcome back to ALUP!
Thanks for your comments. To me, this word does seem to be of Semetic
origin. There is a word in the hypothetical Proto-Indo-European
language, "widar", meaning "against", "apart", etc. A similar root
exists in Sanskrit as well "vidh", meaning "without" and features in
such words as "vidhavaa" (widow; note the phonetic similarity here as
well), "vidhan" (without money), "vidharm" (without religion), etc.
It's interesting to note that the English word "with" also comes from
the same source, where the original sense of sepraration has now gone
into the background but is still retained in such compounds as
"without", "withdraw", "withhold", etc. Another English word "wide" is
also derived from this root.
Another point is that the actual Arabic pronnuciation of the word is
"vadaa'", which changed to "vidaa'" in Persian and, naturally, picked
up by Urdu as such.
So, IMHO, the word is of Aryan pedigree but somehow got into Arabic in
some pre-Islamic era, as it was in vogue in the 6th century: the last
sermon of the Prophet is called "hujjat al-vadaa'".
aadaab arz hai,
Zafar
PS. I wrote a message earlier but I guess Google mahaaraaj ate it. So
I'm redraftng the whole thing.
paabagil
What I meant to say was "does NOT" ...
Zafar
UVR
>
> Thanks for your comments. To me, this word does seem to be of Semetic
> origin. There is a word in the hypothetical Proto-Indo-European
> language, "widar", meaning "against", "apart", etc. A similar root
> exists in Sanskrit as well "vidh", meaning "without" and features in
> such words as "vidhavaa" (widow; note the phonetic similarity here as
> well), "vidhan" (without money), "vidharm" (without religion), etc.
Interesting line of reasoning. It seems to be little more than
conjecture, though, Zaf saahib!
However, you may be interested to know that the Sanskrit root "vidh"
(to be without, to lack, to be bereft of) infact has absolutely
nothing to do with the construction of the words vidhavaa, vidhana
or vidharma. These three words are formed by the addition of the
prefix "vi" (which, among other things, also means 'without'). Thus,
from dhava = man we obtain vi + dhavaa = she who has no man (i.e.,
no husband) = widow. Not, vidh + avaa. Likewise, vi + dhana = he
who lacks money (not vidh + ana) and vi + dharma = unlawful (not
vidh + arma).
If you do have incontrovertible proof that these words were formed
of the root "vidh", I'd be very glad indeed to see such proof.
-UVR.
paabagil
Thanks for your input and the correction. I didn't know that "dhava"
means man and had in mind "vidhav+aa", i.e., a woman who has been
separated {from her husband). Nevertheless, at least to my untrained
ears, the "d" sounds like a part of the root "vi". Consider this:
WIDOW: ... derives from the Indo-European -widhewo, and the root
-weidh- meaning separate. So a widow is one who is left separate or
solitary. 妨eidh is also the source of the English word "divide" and
the Sanskrit vidhu- meaning solitary. Cognates meaning widow are the
Latin Vidua, French veuve, Italian vedova, Spanish viuda, the Russian
and Czech vdova, the Welsh gweddr, the German witwe, and the Dutch
weduwe.
WIDOW: O.E. widewe, widuwe, from P.Gmc. *widewo, from PIE *widhewo,
from *weidh- "separate."
And the <m-w.com>:
DIVIDE: Middle English, from Latin dividere, from dis- + -videre to
separate
----
So, are you certain that in Sanskrit the root is "vi" and not
vidh/vid? As you know, my Sanskrit "profciency" is less than zero, and
I can't find my Sanskrit-Urdu dictionary at the moment.
Zafar
UVR
> [deleted]
> <wordorigins.com>
>
> WIDOW: ... derives from the Indo-European -widhewo, and the root
> -weidh- meaning separate. So a widow is one who is left separate or
> solitary. –Weidh is also the source of the English word "divide" and
> the Sanskrit vidhu- meaning solitary. Cognates meaning widow are the
> Latin Vidua, French veuve, Italian vedova, Spanish viuda, the Russian
> and Czech vdova, the Welsh gweddr, the German witwe, and the Dutch
> weduwe.
>
> <etymonline.com>:
>
> WIDOW: O.E. widewe, widuwe, from P.Gmc. *widewo, from PIE *widhewo,
> from *weidh- "separate."
>
> And the <m-w.com>:
>
> DIVIDE: Middle English, from Latin dividere, from dis- + -videre to
> separate
>
> So, are you certain that in Sanskrit the root [of vidhavaa, vidhana,
> vidharma] is "vi" and not vidh/vid?
> As you know, my Sanskrit "profciency" is less than zero, and
> I can't find my Sanskrit-Urdu dictionary at the moment.
Zaf saahib,
"vi" is not the root of words like vidhava, etc. It is a *prefix*
that serves to modify the meaning of the word(s) it is attached to,
much like naa in naa+mumkin, be in be+qaraar, or non in non+sense.
In order to determine the correct 'root' of vidhana or vidharma,
one must look at the word whose meaning has been altered by the
prepositioning of 'vi', viz., dhana, or dharma. vid/vidh does not
(cannot) qualify in any manner.
The examples you have provided, particularly of vidhavaa being
related to vidh ("a woman left separate", sic) contain factually
incorrect information w.r.t Sanskrit grammar. The relationship
of 'divide' to 'vidh' may be worth following up on, however.
-UVR.