Ghalib - Decoded & Sung's video: Ye na thi hamari qismat I Ghalib i Ajai R Singh I Recitation and Interpretation

Ya na thi hamari qismat By Mirza Ghalib Ghazal 21 from the Deewan-E-Ghalib Recitation with word meaning & interpretation by Ajai R. Singh Ghazal ये न थी हमारी क़िस्मत कि विसाल-ए-यार होता \ अगर और जीते रहते यही इंतिज़ार होता विसाल-ए-यार – Love of the beloved It was not in my fortune to get the love of my beloved. If I would have continued to live, it would have been the same wait. I I would still have waited] That’s the level of patience needed in Love. तेरे वा'दे पर जिए हम तो ये जान झूठ जाना कि ख़ुशी से मर न जाते अगर ए'तबार होता ए'तबार - Belief If I had lived on your promise, know that it would have been false. Would I not have died of joy had I but believed your words? [I knew you wouldn’t keep your promise, yet I believed you. That’s love.] तेरी नाज़ुकी से जाना कि बँधा था अहद बोदा कभी तू न तोड़ सकता अगर उस्तुवार होता नाज़ुकी – Daintiness, delicacy, tenderness अहद – Promise बोदा – Weak, feeble, frail उस्तुवार – Strong, firm Your delicate nature makes your promise a weak one. You wouldn’t have been able to break it, if it were firm. [Since you are delicate, so is your promise.] कोई मेरे दिल से पूछे तेरे तीर-ए-नीम-कश को ये ख़लिश कहाँ से होती जो जिगर के पार होता तीर-ए-नीम-कश –Half drawn arrow [which pierces, but doesn’t pass through] ख़लिश –Pricking pain Let some-one ask my heart the agony of a half –drawn arrow Where would such a pain persist if it had passed through and through? The result of lack of firm resolve leads to ambivalence. Like a half-drawn arrow, which pierces and gets stuck, and so keeps hurting. Better it it had passed through so the hurt would have been severe, but ended once and for all. ये कहाँ की दोस्ती है कि बने हैं दोस्त नासेह कोई चारासाज़ होता कोई ग़म-गुसार होता नासेह – Advisor, preacher चारासाज़ – Healer, Doctor, one who cures ग़म-गुसार – One who consoles/shares sorrow, हमदर्द What sort of friendship is this that friends have turned into preachers/advisors? If only someone relieved my suffering, if only someone shared my sorrow. [In sorrowful times, we expect friends to care for us and comfort us, not to offer preachy gospels.] रग-ए-संग से टपकता वो लहू कि फिर न थमता जिसे ग़म समझ रहे हो ये अगर शरार होता रग-ए-संग – Veins of stones [e.g. the ‘vein’ like markings in marble] शरार – Sparks, चिनगारी From the veins of stone, too, would drip a unending flow of blood. If only what you call sorrow would be converted into sparks [i.e. converting sorrow into strength to strike. E.G., fight against Racial Discrimination all over the world. Also, the Dalit Movement, Feminism, LGBT Movement etc.] ग़म अगरचे जाँ-गुसिल है प कहाँ बचें कि दिल है ग़म-ए-इश्क़ गर न होता ग़म-ए-रोज़गार होता जाँ-गुसिल, जाँ-गुसल – Life threatening, heart breaking, हृदयविदारक ग़म-ए-इश्क़ – Sorrow of love ग़म-ए-रोज़गार – Sorrows of subsistence/business Even though sorrow is life-threatening, after all, it’s a matter of love. If the suffering of love were not to be, the travails of daily living would replace it. [In other words, sorrow is integral to existence. It’s there with you, in some form or the other.] कहूँ किस से मैं कि क्या है शब-ए-ग़म बुरी बला है मुझे क्या बुरा था मरना अगर एक बार होता शब-ए-ग़म – Night/s of sorrow Whom should I tell of the pain of sorrowful night/s [of separation]? Wouldn’t it have been better to have died once and for all? [I die every night since I am separated from my beloved.] हुए मर के हम जो रुस्वा हुए क्यूँ न ग़र्क़-ए-दरिया न कभी जनाज़ा उठता न कहीं मज़ार होता रुस्वा – Disgraced, defamed, dishonoured बदनाम ग़र्क़-ए-दरिया –Drown in the river जनाज़ा –Funeral मज़ार –Tomb, shrine, क़ब्र If I had to die in disgrace, why did I not drown in the river? No funeral needed, no tomb for upkeep. [Ghalib is thinking of the mode of taking is own life. Since it would be disgraceful, better drown in the flowing river so the body gets washed away. The important point is his body should not be found. उसे कौन देख सकता कि यगाना है वो यकता जो दुई की बू भी होती तो कहीं दो-चार होता. यगाना – One, Single, Sole, Unique यकता – Matchless, Incomparable, अद बेमिस्ल दुई – Duality दो-चार – Face to face, a few Who can see Him, for He is One and He is Matchless. [God] If ever there was even a whiff of duality, somewhere at least one would have come face to face./seen a few. This ‘sher’ talks of non-duality of God and His supreme qualities. As well as the fact that it’s not possible to have a casual acquaintance with Him. ये मसाईल-ए-तसव्वुफ़ ये तेरा बयान 'ग़ालिब' तुझे हम वली समझते जो न बादा-ख़्वार होता मसाईल-ए-तसव्वुफ़ – Problem of spirituality/mysticism वली – Saint, महात्मा, ऋषि बादा-ख़्वार –Wine drinker, Reveler in alcohol, boozer This problem of spirituality/mysticism, and the way you have put it. [Refers to the earlier ‘sher’] One would think you were a saint, Ghalib, but you are a wine-drinker. [Meaning this glib talk of mysticism/spirituality and God is under the influence of alcohol, nothing else.] Dr Ajai R. Singh MD http://ajaisingh.org/