The Hidden Garden, Gopi Narang [cheapest way to read ebooks txt] 📗

of non-being.

paamaal kar ke ham ko pachhtaao ge bahut tum

kamyaab hain jahaan mein sar dene vale ham se

My ruin

you will regret a lot.

People like me

who are ready to offer

their heads for love

are rare in this world.

dil do ho Mir saahib us badma’aash ko tum

khaatir to jam’a kar lo tuk qol se qasam se

You are giving away

your heart

to a cheat, Mir Sahib.

Make a calculation,

please take an oath

or a pledge.49

gham raha jab tak k dam mein dam raha

dil ke jaane ka nihaayat gham raha

I remained in the grip of grief

as long as I lived.

I was particularly agonized

by the loss of my heart.

sunte hain laila ke khaime ko siyaah

us mein majnun ka magar maatam raha

We hear that Laila lived

in a black tent.

But inside,

there was mourning

for Majnun.

mere rone ki haqiiqat jis mein thi

ek muddat tak vo kaaghaz nam raha

Something that contained the secret

of my crying,

for a long time that piece of paper

remained moist.50

shahron mulkon mein jo y Mir kahaata hai miyaan

diidni hai p bahut kam nazar aata hai miyaan

In the cities and in the countries

this man who is known as Mir

is worth seeing,

but he is not easy to find, Miyan.

aa’lam aaiina hai jis ka vo musavvir be-misl

haae kya suurtein parde mein banaata hai miyaan

The one who holds a mirror to the world

is an artist without a comparison.

What beautiful faces He paints on the canvas, Miyan!

qismat is bazm mein laaii k jahaan ka saaqi

de hai mai sab ko hamein zahr pilaata hai miyaan

My luck is such I have been brought

into an assembly whose Saqi

serves wine to all but me.

She offers me nothing but poison, Miyan.

ho ke aa’shiq tere jaan o dil o diin kho baithe

jaisa karta hai koi vaisa hi paata hai miyaan

I lost my heart and soul

after I fell in love with you.

True! As you sow,

so shall you reap, Miyan!

husn yak chiiz hai ham hovein k tu ho naaseh

aisi shai se koi bhi haath uthaata hai miyaan

Beauty is a thing of such wonder

it attracts one and all,

be it you, me, or the austere priest.

Who will take away his hand

from such an object, Miyan?

kya pari-khwaan hai jo raaton ko jaga de hai Mir

shaam se dil jigar o jaan jalaata hai miyaan

What a magician who can call fairies

and make the nights glow, Mir.

As evening descends,

he burns heart and soul

all with such a yearning, Miyan.

Part IIThe Beauty of Mir’s Poetic Voice*

A Poet of Countless Delights

lutf mujh mein bhi hain hazaaron Mir

diidni huun jo soch kar dekho

I am filled with countless delights, Mir.

I am worth a look if you observe me,

as thoughtfully as you can.

In Tazkirah-e Khush Ma’rika-e Zeba written by Saa’dat Khan Nasir Lakhnavi (circa 1845), there is a description of an interesting episode involving Mir Taqi Mir and an elderly, much respected poet, Mirza Rafi Sauda. The incident took place at the residence of Sirajuddin Khane Arzu, a great scholar, who was the maternal uncle of Mir’s stepbrother, and at whose place in Delhi Mir was temporarily staying, receiving his initial training from him. Arzu told the young Mir that Sauda had visited in the morning and had read the following matl’a (first couplet of a ghazal) with the pride of an established poet:

chaman mein sub-h jo us jangju ka naam liya

saba ne tegh ka aab-e ravaan se kaam liya

This morning while I was in the garden,

I alluded to the name of my killer-beloved.

The playful breeze got a hint and turned

the shimmering water that was in motion into a lancet.

Mir listened to the couplet carefully and then spontaneously recited the following couplet, which he composed in the moment:

hamaare aage tera jab kisu ne naam liya

dil-e sitam zada ko apne thaam thaam liya

When someone mentioned

your name in my presence,

I had a hard time controlling myself and

I put my hand on the wounded heart.

Khane Arzu was visibly pleased and uttered the traditional invocation: ‘May God save you from an evil eye!’1 This ghazal of seven couplets is found in Mir’s first Divan. He later corrected the second line—to dil-e sitam zada ko ham ne thaam thaam liya—making it rhythmically more appealing. Maulana Hali in his book Muqaddama-e Sh’er o Shaa’yiri especially commented on this couplet while critiquing Mir’s poetry. He wrote: ‘Only those poets can infuse their passion in such subtle words who know how to use a harmless knife to do the work of a sharp lancet. And only people with fine creative taste can fathom the depth of such passion.’2

Although Mir’s father was greatly respected and had many followers, they became indifferent to the family when the father left behind unpaid debt. By leaving Agra, the place of his birth, Mir tried to make a new start with his life. But there were hurdles and disappointment at every step of the way. The stay at Khane Arzu’s house was short-lived because his stepbrother wrote a nasty letter to his uncle suggesting that he should not help Mir because he was a ‘troublesome person’. Khane Arzu’s behaviour changed overnight towards Mir. The treatment that the so-called ‘uncle’ meted out to Mir was worse than that of an enemy. Mir separated himself from Khane Arzu and learned to live in a city that was frequently under attack by invaders and hounded by calamities.

There was an age difference of about ten years between Sauda (1713–80) and Mir (1722–1810). By the time Mir started his poetic quest, Sauda was at the height of his popularity. Mir lived longer, and as the years went by, Mir’s poetry came to be known for its heart-warming quality. His words which had a compassionate flair won critical acclaim. But, unfortunately, all his life, Sauda’s fame cast a shadow over Mir due to his popularity with nobles and nawabs as well as the literati of the time. Several commentators, notably Mus-hafi, Mirza Ali Lutf, and Mustafa Khan Shefta, who wrote Tazkirahs of Urdu poets during the eighteenth century tended to place the two poets in the same pigeonhole. Notice the following apologetic assessment by Mus-hafi from his Tazkirah-e Hindi: ‘Many compare the two and comment that maybe