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

are commonly found in Urdu poetry. But there are few things which are quite extraordinary. First, there is the quality of the dialogue itself. The question comes from a living voice and it is directed towards a non-living entity. Second, the answer is not given in words; the only response of the bud is a smile followed by silence. Third, the smile can be interpreted in many ways. A smile is sometimes an answer to a question that has no logical answer. Perhaps, the bud smiles because it is excited about becoming a flower. Beyond this meaning, there is an array of other meanings that includes reaching the pinnacle of beauty with full flowering and the march of the flower towards its gradual decline and demise. The beauty of a flower in full bloom will not last forever. The smile is a metaphor for a momentary life, a life which will last only as long as a smile lasts. The spring too proverbially is not going to be around for long.

Thus, we see in Mir’s hands ordinary language goes through a creative transformation. The answer to the question ‘how long is the life of a flower?’ is as obvious as the sun. The hidden structures of meanings create delight and add to the lancetlike quality of the couplet. Many early critics who did not go beyond the surface reading of Mir’s work readily came to the conclusion that he is a poet of simplicity and conversational language. Yet Mir himself left the critics such clear signs.

koi saadah hi us ko saadah kahe

hamein to lage hai vo a’iyyaar sa

Only simple folks would call him simple.

To me, he is artful and masterly.

The ‘artful and masterly’ part got a little attention and critics continued to follow the easy path of simple classification. Let us take a look at some more couplets:

sub-h tak sham’a sar ko dhunti rahi

kya patange ne iltimaas kiya

The candle was ecstatic

and flickering

until morning.

Wonder, what entreaties

the moth made to her?

masaaib aur the par dil ka jaana

a’jab ik saaniha sa ho gaya hai

There was no dearth of calamities,

but losing my heart

was a strange accident altogether!

rang-e gul o buue gul hote hain hava donon

kya qaafila jaata hai jo tu bhi chala chaahe

Colours of roses

and the fragrance of flowers

are fading away.

What a caravan departs

as you are leaving!

use dhuundte Mir khoe gaye

koi dekhe is justuju ki taraf

Mir lost himself in his search.

Someone should think about

the mystery of his endeavour.

paas-e naamuus-e i’shq tha varna

kitne aansu palak tak aaye the

I was concerned about my dignity

and restraint as a lover.

Otherwise, a lot of tears had hit my eyelid.

y tavahhum ka kaarkhaana hai

yaan vohi hai jo e’tibaar kiya

This is a world of fantasy.

Everything is illusive.

Whatever you believe is real.

chashm ho to aaiina-khaana hai dahr

munh nazar aate hain diivaaron ke biich.

If you have eyes,

this world is like a house of mirrors.

You can see faces upon faces

in the walls.

shaam se kuchh bujha sa rehta hai

dil hua hai charaagh muflis ka

When evening comes

my heart loses its verve.

It starts to quiver

like a poor man’s lamp.

ek mahruum chale Mir hamien aa’lam se

varna aa’lam ko zamaane ne diya kya kya kuchh

Mir, I was the only one

who departed deprived and excluded.

The world did a lot for others.

marg-e majnun p a’ql gum hai Mir

kya divaane ne maut paaii hai

The death of Majnun, Mir

makes me lose myself in disbelief.

Can a lover like him ever die?

ho ga kisi diivaar ke saaye ke tale Mir

kya kaam mohabbat se us aaraam talab ko

Mir must be squatting somewhere,

under the shadow of a wall.

What has that carefree to do with love?

aa’dam-e khaaki se aa’lam ko jila hai varna

aaiina tha y vale qaabil-e diidaar n tha

The world received this bright glow

from the ash of Adam.

Otherwise, this house of mirrors

was not worth watching.

hain musht-e khaak lekin jo kuchh hain Mir ham hain

maqduur se zayaada maqduur hai hamaara

We are simply a fistful of ashes

but whatever there is,

Mir is conscious of his self.

The destiny that we make

is more than what is ordained.

sar kisi se firo nahien hota

haif bande hue khuda n hue

It is really difficult

to give up self-esteem.

Alas, I am man, not a god!

maahiiyat-e do aa’lam khaati phire hai ghote

yak qatrah khuun-e dil y tuufaan hai hamaara

The reality of this world and the other

is revolving and disappearing again and again.

This storm is wrought by one tiny drop of blood

which we call heart.

Mir was conscious of his pervasive ingenuity. Following couplets affirm this:

khush hain diivaangi-e Mir se sab

kya junuun kar gaya sha’uur se vo

All are happy

with Mir’s strange madness.

His surprising psychosis

and stunning creativity!

tarfein rakhe hai ek sukhan chaar chaar Mir

kya kya kaha karein hain zabaan-e qalam se ham

Each couplet of Mir reveals

multiple dimensions of creativity.

Isn’t it amazing how much a poet could say

just with the tip of an ordinary reed pen?

tha bala hangaama-aara Mir bhi

ab talak galion mein us ka shor hai

What a turbulent marvel

Mir really was!

His amazing words

still keep echoing in the streets.

amiir zaadon se dilli ke mil n taa-maqduur

k ham faqiir hue hain inhien ki daulat se

Do not expect much good

from the aristocrats of Dilli.

People like us are dirt poor

because of their wealth.

sann’a hain sab khwaar azaan jumla huun main bhi

hai a’ib bara us mein jise kuchh hunar aave

Artists are treated terribly in this world.

That has been my lot too.

The one who attains something extraordinary

is the one considered deficient.

jalva hai mujhi se lab-e dariya-e sukhan par

sad rang meri mauj hai main taba’e ravaan huun

On the banks of the river of poetry,

all delights flow from me.

My tide has every colour of the heart.

I am the river roaring and gushing.

turfa sann’a hain ae Mir y mauzon tabaa’n

baat jaati hai bigar to bhi bana dete hain

Amazing are these artists, Mir!

How spontaneous is their creativity!

If something goes wrong,

they mend it right away.

Mir sann’a hai milo is se

dekho baatein to kya banaata hai

Look what an artist Mir is!

You should meet him.

He weaves magic in his words.

Conversational Chatter of Mir Soz and Kitchen Girls

People with a deep understanding of the genesis of poetry called Mir muhaavara daan-e matiin (a great master of idiomatic language) because his poetry had a perfectionistic multidimensional