Date: Fri, 08 Mar 96 13:46:00 PST
From: Ramesh Hariharan (rameshh@tp.ac.sg)
Subject: Sajda: Aankh Se Door Na Ho ...

Hi

We are on to Sajda 13, by Ahmed Faraz, sung by Lata. This is a beauty! A bit
deep for me to understand. For example, I am still not sure that I have
understood the "maqta"(last sher) of this ghazal. Can we have other
interpretations?

Poet : Ahmed Faraz

1. aankh se door na ho dil se utar jayega
waqt ka kya hai guzarta hai guzar jayega

[Before fading away from the eyesight, it will fade away from the heart
What about time, it always passes, it will pass by]

2. itna manoos na ho khilwat-e-gham se apni
tu kabhi khud ko bhi dekhega to dar jayega

[Do not get so intimate with your sorrows of loneliness
If you see yourself sometimes, you will be scared]

3. tum sar-e-raah-e-wafa dekhte reh jaoge
aur woh baam-e-rifaqat se utar jayega

[You will be left watching the path of love
And he will absolve himself of his responsibility towards love]

4. zindagi teri ata hai to yeh jaane wala
teri bakhshish teri dahleez pe dhar jayega

[If my life is a gift from you, then it is going to leave me & go away
Your donation/tips will be held/left on your own doorstep]

Dictionary : manoos - intimate; khilwat-e-gham - sorrow of loneliness; sar-e-raah-e-wafa - path of love;
baam-e-rifaqat - responsibility towards love; ata - gift; bakhshish - donation; dahleez - doorstep

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Thanks to Mr Khurram Haneef (haneef@bellcore.com) for sending me two more shers of this ghazal. He also gave his interpretation of the above sher #4. -- Uma

doobte doobte kashtee to ochala dain doon
mein nahein koi to sahil pe uter jayega

zabt lazim hey magar dukh hey qayamat ka Faraz
zalim ab ke bhi na roay ga to mer jayega

ochala = pushed upward
zabt = patience
lazim = necessary

sher #4: zindagi teri ata hai to yeh jaane wala
teri bakhshish teri dahleez pe dhar jayega

[ I'm about to go and my life which is a gift from you
I will leave it on your doorstep before I go ]

Bottom line: You are my life. If you are not mine, I have no life.