Eternal Expressions

My instincts were forbidding me from keeping a clear and bright theme for this blog simply because it will defy the mystique of the genre of poetry I jot here. Be it the sher of Ghalib or geet of Gulzar, they can not be captured or tied to one interpretation. They are open, mysterious and free form. Let them take the shape of your individual perceptions. Let them light away this darkness themselves.

shauk ko ye lat ke har dam naala kheenche jaaye hai
dil ki wo haalat ke dam lene se ghabra jaaye hai

[shauk=ardor] the passion of love never tires of lamenting and groaning while the heart is in such a state that cant even breathe. It just depicts the height of misery of the lover who, probably, due to rejection/unresponsive lover wants to cry and cry but heart is not able to support a single breath in between. Frankly, it still seems mysterious to me.

dur chashm-e-bad teri bazm-e-tarab se waah waah
nagma ho jaata hai vaan gar naala mera jaaye hai

May the evil glance stay away from your gathering(mehfil). Even my lamentation are translated to melodious verses when they reach your gathering. On the more pessimistic interpretation, it is to say that the beloved is 'zaalim' enough to ignore my pleadings and lamenting and continue with her celebrations.

garche hai tarz-e-taghaful, parda-daar-raaz-e-ishq
par hum aise khoye jaate hain ki wo paa jaaye hain

This one is unbeatable and I am having a tough time to even describe. The situation is that beloved is putting up a show of negligence so as to not let the world know of secret of my love, yet I am lost in such a way(by her beauty or charm or whatever) that my loss(of senses) divulges the secret. There are interpretations where 'wo' stands for the beloved herself that she doesnt know of my love, which has been revealed when I lose my senses looking at her.

uski bazm-aaraiyaan sunkar dil-e-ranjoor yaan
misl-e-naqsh-e-mudda-e-ghair baitha jaaye hain

The stories of beloved's loud and flirtatious gatherings have fallen upon Ghalib's ears. Just as the rival is succeeding in impressing his beloved, so Mirza's heart is sinking proportionately i.e jaise uske dil me ghair ka naqsh baith raha hai, waise hi mera dil baith raha hai (ranjoor=distressed)

ho ke aashiq wo paree-rukh aur nazuk ban gaya
rang khulta jaaye hai jitna ki udta jaaye hain

Having experienced the love herself, the angel face of my beloved has become all so more delicate. I dont want to kill the beauty of second line and as it is, its pretty straightforward. I would just add that the discovery of her own love or embarrassment has caused her face to whiten but as it happens, it has become clearer/ even more beautiful.
(If you have watched Gulzar's documentary of Mirza Ghalib, this particular line is used when Navaabjaan discovers the identity of Ghalib)

naqsh ko us ke musavvir pe bhi kya kya naaz hai
kheenchta hai jis qadar, utna hi khinchta jaaye hai

[Musavvir=artist]The wordplay here is of 'khinchna' which can be to draw or attract/pull. The lines show the magic of the creations on the creator, the art on the artist, the beloved on the lover. The art is so influential over the artist that it draws(attracts) the artist to the same extent that he literally draws it. In the other context, the beloved pulls the lover by her charm and then teasingly draws away to same extent. Again, open to multiple interpretations here.

saaya mera mujhse misl-e-dood bhaage hai 'Asad'
paas mujh aatish-bazaan ke kisse thehra jaaye hai

Asad is the lesser used 'takhallus' of Ghalib and there is an interesting story behind it. Here, Ghalib says that even his shadow wants to vanish away as does smoke (misl-e-dood). This can either be due to the fact that he is aatish-bazaan or fire provoking (more so burning himself in his difficulties) or it is the heat of his passion that is repelling everything.
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Phew!
All in all, I would just say that there is no end to the possible interpretations of each and every verse of Ghalib. First of all, his usage of unusual and recherche farsi terms is not easily comprehensible; secondly, the shers are so concise in expression that they leave most part to be imagined/interpreted individually/deduced. It is not only his expertise of language but wit that he comes up with such unimaginable couplets.

I published this in my other blog and the translations were incomplete at that time. In fact I could not understand 2-3 couplets at all. Given a fact that its not 'that' famous a ghazal of Ghalib (pardon me Ghalib lovers who know this one already, I am not trying to demean the charisma of this ghazal), I could not find very elaborate translations on web. Thanks to tarbooz, she made my day by sending the awesome translations. And as I read it again and again, I am spellbound, mesmerized, enchanted and what not by the depth of each and every word. Also, I am confident that I havent still understood all the beautiful nuances and that makes me even more enamored of 'one and only' Ghalib. So, here it goes-

dekhna kismet ki aap apne pe rashk aa jaaye hai
main use dekhun, bhala kab mujhse dekha jaaye hai

(its that stage of love where I have become my own rival and I cant bear anyone looking at my love, even if its me)

haath dho dil se yahi garmi gar andeshe me hai
aabginah tundi-e-sahbaa se pighla jaaye hai

(again, one can keep writing pages and may not capture the full essence of this one. I am quoting from an ext source- " If in mere thought is heat, then it's not well for the heart. The wine is so active/violent that it melts the wine-glass. That is, if my thought and concentration remain in this state, then my spirit will be dissolved.")

ghair ko ya rab wo kyun kar mana-e-gustakhi kare?
gar haya bhi usko aati hai to sharma jaaye hai

(the crux is the beauty of shyness here that my beloved is shy of even showing shyness. When 'ghair' or the other person is being offensive, 'wo' cant even stop because she is too shy to let embarass approach her. Quoting ext - "A shy, modest young woman would be duly embarrassed by anyone's approaching her; when 'even' shyness is the one who comes to her, the embarrassment is paralyzing. Thus the beloved is unable to confront and rebuke the bold Other.")

The ghazal is so heavy that I am considering taking a break here so that I can relish these three couplets for a while before coming on to the next ones. Again, thx tarbooz!