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

qudrat hai

He lifted a pile of dust and cast Adam with His hands.

He gave him a form and the gift of life.

But the same human being has no worth today.

This too is the will of God!

sub-h se aansu na-umiidaana / jaise vidaaii aata tha

aaj kisu khwaahish ki shaayad / dil se hamaare rukhsat hai

Tears have been flowing

since this morning.

Am I saying farewell?

If there was a deep desire,

tragically it is leaving for good!

kya dilkash hai bazm jahaan ki / jaate yaan se jise dekho

vo gham diidah ranj kashiidah / aah saraapa hasrat hai

This worldly gathering—

it is filled with attractions.

You know this when you see

someone leaving this world.

Unhappy, filled with grief,

carrying unfulfilled desires.

Last Master of the Oral Tradition

parhte phirein ge galiyon mein in rekhton ko log

muddat rahein gi yaad y baatein hamaariyaan

The people will keep singing these verses

going through the streets and surroundings.

What I have said will keep echoing forever.

Mir lived and wrote nearly two and a half centuries ago. During the last phase of his life, the printing press had become a reality. Mir’s Kulliyaat was printed and published by the Fort Williams College in 1811, but unfortunately Mir passed away a year earlier in 1810. Therefore, he never saw a printed copy of his Divan. How the printing press impacted creative styles of Urdu literature and poetry has not been fully analysed or understood. Up to that time, the literary tradition was basically an oral tradition. Slowly the oral practices were transformed into printed words—impressions in black on white paper bound as a book for reading. More than anything else, works of prose (daastaans, which were tales and mythologies) gained popularity later during the nineteenth century and they reached a large number of readers. From this point of view, it appears that Mir was the last messenger of the oral tradition. He was very conscious of the fact that the magic of his poetry lay in verbal transmission from one person to another. Aab-e Hayaat, authored by Mohammad Husain Azad, considered to be Urdu poetry’s first literary text, says that the purity of Mir’s verse was sustained by his conversational style.12 Syed Abdullah agreed that Mir was fully committed to his dialogic style. For example, let us take a closer look at the following couplets. Note the word, baat, baatein, oral speech, tale, and communication. He was conscious of the fact that his speaking voice was for the listener and not the reader of a book. The fact cannot be ignored that the oral tradition too was a trigger for his fluency and communicability.

baatein hamaari yaad rahein phir baatein n aisi suniye ga

parhte kisi ko suniye ga to der talak sar dhuniye ga

Remember the words that I speak

you will not hear anyone else speak like this.

If you listen to it again at all,

you will be truly moved by its enchantment.

baa’d hamaare is fan ka jo koi maahir hove ga

dard angez andaaz ki baatein aksar parh parh rovey ga

Whoever masters this art after I am gone

will find these tales highly heart-rending

and agonizing and then he too will be

deeply enthused like me!

Mir often uses tum or tu for informal speech instead of aap, or words like miyaan, pyaare, arey, saahib, etc. When he addresses himself, he typically uses honorifics like Mir saahib or Mir ji. The following couplets demonstrate his addressing style.

lete hi naam us ka sote se chonk uthe ho

hai khair Mir saahib kuchh tum ne khwaab dekha

After uttering her name,

he suddenly woke up from his sleep.

Are you okay Mir Sahib?

Did you see a dream?

ji mein tha us se miliye to kya kya n kahiye Mir

par jab mile to rah gaye naachaar dekh kar

I knew it within my heart, Mir,

what to say to her.

But when I saw her,

I was rendered speechless.

chala n uth ke vahiin chupke chupke phir tu Mir

abhi to us ki gali se pukaar laaya huun

Mir, you sneaked into her lane

once again without making a rustle.

My God! Just a while ago I pulled you back

from there calling Mir, Mir!

pyaar karne ka jo khuubaan ham p rakhte hain gunaah

un se bhi to puuchhte tum itne pyaare kiyon huye

Those who tell me of committing a sin

for loving her should at least ask her

why she is so enchanting

and inexplicably seductive!

maqduur tak to zabt karuun huun p kya karuun

munh se nikal hi jaati hai ik baat pyaar ki

I try as far as I can

to restrain myself,

but a word of love

escapes one’s lips

on its own.

sair ki ham ne har kahien pyaare

phir jo dekha to kuchh nahien pyaare

My loved one, I took a walk around

the whole world, up and down.

But then, my dear, I had a feeling

that there is nothing like you

anywhere in the world.

kya raftagi se meri tum guftagu karo ho

khoya gaya nahien main aisa jo koi paave

Will you have a dialogue

with my unconscious self?

I am certainly not lost in such a way

that anybody can find me.

kahte to ho yuun kahte yuun kahte jo vo aata

sab kahne ki baatein hain kuchh bhi n kaha jaata

Now you think what you should have said

when she came. This is empty talk.

When she really came, you were so lost—

you were not able to utter a word.

jab se javaan hue ho y chaal kya nikaali

jab tum chala karo ho thokar laga kare hai

Have you thought

about your stride

since you have bloomed?

When you walk,

you really hit my heart.

nahien hai chaah bhali itni bhi dua kar Mir

k ab jo dekhuun use main bahut n pyaar aave

So much love is not good for you, Mir.

Better pray for yourself.

You don’t want to be overwhelmed

when you look at her endearingly.

Mir was essentially a poet of sharing and listening. Often, he compared his verse to telling a story or a raam-kahaani.13

fursat-e khwaab nahien zikr-e butaan mein ham ko

raat din raam-kahaani si suna karte hain

I don’t have time for a dream

as I talk about that beautiful idol.

This is such an enticing story of my love

that Mir keeps repeating, day and night!

sar-guzasht apni kis andoh se shab kahta tha

so gaye tum n suni aah kahaani us ki

With what pain last night

Mir was telling his tale of love.

Ah,