"Jalwa-e-Sahar" - Ek Naz'm
Afzal A. Khan
March is ending soon and the next month April heralds the advent
of spring. Perhaps not in most parts of the Indian sub-continent,
where the weather would be terribly hot.
Here is a poem which delightfully conjures up the atmosphere of
spring.
{It is difficult for me to ascertain whether it has been
presented by me (or someone else) previously. If it has,
please accept my apologies and enjoy the poem nonetheless
as "qaNd-e-mukarrar".}
J A L W A - E - S A H A R
KHaamosh fiza men waqt-e-sahar, jazbaat ka dariya jaari hai
Ik kaif ka toofaaN um'Da hai, ik wajd ka 'aalam taari hai
Woh chaak huwa daamaan-e-sahar, woh zulmat-e-shab kaafoor huwi
'Aalam 'aalam pur~noor huwa, duniya duniya mas'roor huwi
Woh kirneN noor ki nikli haiN, KHursheed ke zarreeN saaGHar se
Woh baada-e-surKH jhalakta hai phooloN ke raNgeeN saaGHar se
Woh baad-e-saba mastaana chali, woh patli shaaKHeN hil'ne lageeN
Woh patte aa gaye jumbish men, woh naazuk kaliyaaN khilne lageeN
KHaamoshi-e-shab tehleel huwi, chiRiyoN ki tarannum~rezi men
Shabnam ki nazar~afrozi men, phooloN ki shameem~aNgezi men
Har shaaKH men raNga'raNgi hai, har phool men boo'qalmooni hai
Hai ek tanaasub har shai men, har cheez men ik mauzooni hai
Hai "jannat-e-gosh" ik ik naGHma, har manzar hai "firdaus-e-nazar"
Pehlu men dil ghaN'ToN raqsaaN, ehsaas ka kuchh ho zauq agar
Is waqt 'aroos-e-fitrat ki zebaaish deed ke qaabil hai
Har GHamzaa us ka zaalim hai, har 'ashwa us ka qaatil hai
Har soo hai sa'aadat ki taabish, har simt hai baarish rehmat ki
Tanweer-e-sahar hai ek zia, ruKHsaar-e-'aroos-e-fitrat ki
Mausam naheeN KH(w)aab-e-GHaflat ka, mauqa naheeN sah'l~aNgaari ka
U'Th ai GHaafil, bedaar ho ab, hai waqt yehi bedaari ka
Kaafir hai woh dil is waqt bhi gar, jis dil men KHuda ki yaad naheeN
Mul'hid bhi agar yeh dekhe samaaN, sajde men jhuka de apni jabeeN
PaiGHaam-e-'amal phir laaii sahar, phir duniya apne kaam men hai
Sar'garm hai koi taa'at men, aur koi shaGHl-e-jaam men hai
Kuchh meri na poochho ai riN'do, ik gosha-e-baaGH men baiTha hooN
"KHum'KHaana-e-fitrat" men har dam "sahbaa-e-masarrat" peeta hooN
Har soo haiN shigufta laala-o-gul, pur~kaif hawaa-e-gulshan hai
Ik haath men jaam-e-sahba hai, ik haath men us ka daaman hai
Wali-ur-Rehman Wali
This naz'm was composed more than 80 years back. Reading
it is another instance of "nostalgia".
Fiza & Simt : I feel these pronunciations have now become
so common ('parichalit') that we should accept them as correct.
Afzal
Naseer
muHtaram Afzal Sahib, aadaab.
I am sitting in my study, looking out of the windows on two sides. The
"window" facing me practically covers the whole wall. Thorough this, I
get a panoramic view of our rear garden with its lawn, a few trees
(two apricot and one maple) and flower beds. We had to remove two
apple trees and a eucalyptus tree due to some building work. This was
a painful experience for me because I love trees. The sky is cloudy
today and there is a drizzle at the moment; perhaps this is just a
begining for the April showers. I am not wearing any extra warm
clothing as it is quite mild. Before the drizzle got a bit heavy,
there were doves, magpies, sparrows and starlings enjoying our left
over chapattis! (We have even "converted" the birds to our food, here
in England!) Only a week or two ago, on two occasions we saw a
pheasant taking a gentle strole in our back garden!
The window to my right is quite large and beyond the fence to the
gravelled part of the garden, there is a very large field which is
part of the "Thorpe Hall" estate, a listed building, built between
1653-1656 for the Lord Chief Justice. It has magestic Oak Trees as
well as other trees. These seem to attract a lot of crows which we can
see and hear from our house. At one time, before we moved here,
Friesian cows would be seen grazing in this field. It is a pity that
this is now a past memory.
Enjoying the sights from where I am and at the same time reading the
nazm you have posted makes me realise how lucky we are to have
everything that we do have. The poem by Wali-ur-Rahman Wali (whom I
have never heard before, as far as I can remember) is indeed very
beautiful. It does full jusice to all the five senses! I was thinking
of commenting on a few couplets but it would be gross injustice to
ignore others. The poem is simply exquisite. Perhaps "raHmat kii
baarish" sums it up.
Back in Pakistan, our ancestoral home also was exposed on one side
completely to large open fields with trees. From our roof-top we could
see the river Jhelum to the north (and beyond it the mountains..Piir
Panjaal?), in the direction of the fields more mountains and to the
west even more mountains (but not as high). This was the place where
Ranjha went to stay with some Jogis, the place is known as "Tillaa
JogiyaaN daa". In my childhood I remember that we used to have jackals
climbing over our wall and attack and sometimes kill our chickens and
other poultry. So, although we don't have jackals, we do have foxes
and hares and, in a way, I have gone into the past in the current
location!
Naseer