Date: Mon, 24 Jun 96 12:19:00 PDT
From: Ramesh Hariharan (rameshh@tp.ac.sg)
Subject: Ghalib: kab se hooN kya bataaooN...
Hi
Here is another one from who-else-but Ghalib. Enjoy!
1. kab se hooN, kya bataaooN
jahaan-e-KHaraab meiN ?
shab haaye hijr ko bhee rakhooN gar hisaab meiN
[what can I tell you, from when I have been in
this world of problems?
not only the nights, but also if I inlcude the period of
seperation in my calculations]
2. taa fir na intezaar meiN neeNd aaye 'umr
bhar
aane ka 'ahad kar gaye aaye jo KHwaab meiN
[so that, in waiting for you, i do not get
sleep for ever
you promised to come, when you came in my dreams]
3. qaasid ke aate-aate KHat ik aur likh
rakhooN
maiN jaanta hooN jo woh likhenge jawaab meiN
[before the messenger comes, let me write one
more letter
i know, what she will write in her reply]
4. mujh tak kab unkee bazm meiN aata tha
daur-e-jaam
saaqee ne kuchch mila na diya ho sharaab meiN
[when has the session of drinks ever reached
till me, in her gatherings
i hope that the bar tender has not mixed/put anything in the
drinks]
5. 'ghalib' chutee sharaab, par ab bhee
kabhee-kabhee
peeta hooN roz-e-abr-o-shab-e-maahtaab meiN
['ghalib', i have stopped drinking(alcohol),
but even now, sometimes
i drink on cloudy days and moonlit nights]
Dictionary: jahaan-e-KHaraab = world of
problems; shab = night; hijr = separation
taa = so that; 'ahad = promise; qaasid =
messenger; bazm = meeting/"mehafil"
saaqee = bar tender; abr = clouds; roz-e-abr
= cloudy day; maahtaab = moon
regards
Ramesh