Date: Thu, 18 Jul 96 11:27:00 PDT
From: Ramesh Hariharan (rameshh@tp.ac.sg)
Subject: Ghalib: aa, ki meree jaan ko qaraar....

Hi

One more, from who-else-but Ghalib! The translations are in doubt, as I am
not satisfied with them! If there is someone who can interpret these better,
please do so.

1. aa, ki meree jaan ko qaraar naheeN hai
taaqat-e-bedaad-e-intezaar naheeN hai

[Come(my beloved), for there is no peace/rest that I have
I have no strength/patience to wait for the answer( that I already know)]

Ghalib says, that there is always delay in getting justice(in love). He
knows what the result is(that of not getting love), and is not afraid of it.
However, he will get peace of mind only when he has heard it from his
beloved, and he does not have the patience to wait to get this answer.

2. dete haiN jannat hayaat-e-dehar ke badle
nashsha ba_andaaza-e-KHummaar naheeN hai

[They are/he is/she is giving me heaven, in place of an earthly existence
The feeling is not the same as that which I would get from getting intoxicated]

Ghalib says that, why are you talking about something impossible(jannat) or
difficult to achieve. Talk about something conceivable, like getting drunk
and intoxicated, which could give me the same feeling as in heaven.

3. giriya nikaale hai teree bazm se mujh ko
haay ! ki roone pe iKHtiyaar naheeN hai

[My weeping is making me leave your gathering/durbaar
alas! for I do not have control over my crying]

4. toone qasam mai_kashee kee khaaee hai 'GHalib'
teree qasam ka kuchch 'eitbaar naheeN hai !

[You have taken the promise of boozing, 'Ghalib'
your promise cannot be trusted]

This sher is a bit twisted, I feel. Ghalib is making a promise of boozing(as
in "qasam apni maa ka katha hoon", or "qasam mai_kashee kee khaaee hai"),
and then turns around and says that "Ghalib, you cannot be trusted". How can
that be? It is so, because Ghalib is in a drunken state. In his drunken
state, he is making this promise of boozing. Now, how can one trust a
drunken man? Isn't that right? :-))

Dictionary: qaraar = rest/repose; bedaad = injustice; hayaat = life;
dahar = world; ba_andaaza = according to; KHummaar = intoxication;
giriya = weeping; iKHtiyaar = control; mai_kashee = boozing;
'eitbaar = trust/faith

regards
Ramesh