The Hidden Garden by Gopi Narang (phonics books txt) 📕

ne ham ram khurdon ko kya raam kia

rishta-e chaak-e jeb-e daridah sarf-e qimaash-e daam kiya

Lovers became wild huntsmen

to subdue their untamable beloveds.

It doesn’t matter if clothes were torn

and what was left had to be sold off.

shaam-e firaaq-e yaar mein josh-e khiira-sari se ham ne Asad

maah ko dar tasbiih-e kavaakib jaaye nashiin-e imam kiya

During the night of separation

and in our passionate insanity, Asad,

I turned the stars into a rosary

with 101st bead looking like moon—

a symbol for the missed cherished one.

Mir’s ghazal is from his early collection and it is included in his first Divan. It has a total of fifteen couplets of which eleven were selected and translated above. As stated above, Ghalib’s ghazal was also from his early years. While comparing the two ghazals, Syed Abdullah writes: ‘In these two ghazals, leaving aside one couplet or so, there is very little similarity when we look at the subject matter and the style of presentation. It seems that Ghalib entered the fray with a lot of force and excitement, but he could not compete with the vast array of Mir’s qaafiyas (rhyming scheme). He ended the ghazal after writing only five couplets. Compared with Mir’s wholesome and very effective and free-flowing presentation, Ghalib’s verse appears to be a collection of colourful words. Yet it is true that we feel a commotion demonstrating the poet’s search for a higher ground.’10

First, let’s do a quick analysis of signifying elements. There is no doubt that these two ghazals are representative of two different poetic voices. In Ghalib’s matl’a there are nine nouns and adjectives: vahshi, sayyaad, ram khurda, rishta, chaak, jeb, daridaah, qimaash, and daam. What do we find in Mir’s matl’a? In the first line, there is dava and in the second there is biimariye dil. The entire couplet has three nouns and three verbal nodes.

The second point relates to the fact that Mir uses long bahr (lyrical meter) with small grammatical units that work as nodes of meaning, points where several lines and pathways intersect, and have spontaneity in expressing emotions. Third, Mir uses fewer nouns and therefore he is less in need of izafats.11 Ghalib uses five izafats in the second line of his matl’a which makes it tough to read and too dense in its meaning. Fourth, Mir’s modes of expression have deep roots with the soil that he shows in his indigenous touch. In Ghalib’s ghazal there are no retroflex voices, which are typically Prakritik. It is not that these voices are missing in all of Ghalib, but he uses them sparingly. For Mir, retroflex comes naturally because he draws inspiration from the spoken language that is filled with close to the soil idiomatic expressions that was neither formal nor literary.

Last, Mir is rather fond of using vowels, especially long vowels, which help in creating a racy flow as opposed to dense formulations. Let us look at the following examples. The signifying verbal or vocative nodes which flow effortlessly and communicate instantaneously are shown with slashes. Needless to say, this is a hallmark of Mir’s distinctive creativity.

dil ki tah ki kahi nahien jaati / naazuk hai asraar bahut

anchhar to hain i’shq ke do hi / lekin hai bistaar bahut

I can’t describe the depth of my heart.

It is delicate and secretive.

Love’s magic is limited to one or two,

but its spread is immensely mysterious.

milne lage ho der der / dekhiye/ kya hai kya nahien

tum to karo ho saahibi / bande mein kuchh raha nahien

Meeting me after a long spell!

Let us see how it goes.

What is and what is not.

You act like a sovereign.

But there is nothing left

in the humble me.

kin niindon ab tu soti hai / ai chashm-e girya naak

mizhgaan to khol / shahr ko sailab le gaya

What kind of sleep are you having?

Open your tear-filled eyes.

The flood has swept away the city!

dil baham pahuncha badan mein / tap se sara tan jala

aa pari y aisi chingaari / k pairaahan jala

My heart felt the body.

With fever it burnt.

It was quite a spark!

O gosh, it has burnt everything

my whole self!

khuub hai ae abr / yak shab aao / baaham roiiye

par n itna bhi k duube shahr / kam kam roiiye

It is great, O cloud,

that you show up one evening!

We can cry together.

But not so much

that we drown the city.

We cry but not that much.

shahr-e dil aah a’jab jaaye thi / par us ke gaye

aisa ujra / k kisi tarah basaaya n gaya

Heart’s city was an enchanting place.

But when she left, it was ruined.

It never got its liveliness back.

kya jaaniye / k chhaati jale hai k daagh-e dil

ik aag si lagi hai / kahien kuchh dhuuaan sa hai

I don’t know

whether the chest is on fire

or the wounds of my heart.

There is some smoke around.

ab ke bahut hai shor-e bahaaraan / ham ko mat zanjiir karo

dil ki havas tuk ham bhi nikaalein / dhuumein ham ko machaane do

The spring has arrived

with a lot of tumult.

Don’t chain me please.

Let me fill my heart’s desire

and cause some commotion.

kahta tha kisu se kuchh / takta tha kisu ka munh

kal Mir khara tha yaan / sach hai / k diivaana tha

He was saying something to someone.

He was looking awestruck at someone.

Yesterday, Mir was standing here.

It is true. He had lost his mind.

Here are some verses from a ghazal that show creative use of racy long vowels, multiple nodes and an extreme form of spontaneity that spurs lyricism.

aa’lam aa’lam i‘shq o junuun hai / duniya duniya tohmat hai

dariya dariya rota huun main / sahra sahra vahshat hai

The world is filled with love and reckless passion,

The whole thing looks like someone’s imagination.

When I cry, it seems rivers are flowing.

There is nothing but gay abandon and wildness.

koi dam raunaq majlis ki / aur bhi hai is dam ke saath

yaa’ni charaagh sub-h ke hain ham / dam apna bhi ghaniimat hai

The splendour of her gathering

lasts as long as the breath.

I am like a night lamp.

Few breaths, and the night is gone.

khaak se aadam kar ke uthaaya / jis ko dast-e qudrat ne

qadar nahien kuchh us bande ki / y bhi khuda ki