Date: Wed, 04 Sep 96 14:15:00 PDT
From: Ramesh Hariharan (rameshh@tp.ac.sg)
Subject: Ghalib: woh firaaq aur woh wisaal kahaaN?

Who-Else-But Ghalib's "chota beher"(small meter/length) ghazal after a long break. Enjoy!

1. woh firaaq aur woh wisaal kahaaN ?
woh shab-o-roz-o-maah-o-saal kahaaN ?

[Where have those seperations & meetings gone(days when we used to meet & seperate)?
Where have those nights & days & months & years gone?]

2. thee woh ik shaKHs ke tasavvur se
ab woh raanaai-e-KHayaal kahaaN ?

[She existed in the imagination of a person(in my imagination)
Now, where have those tender thoughts gone?]

3. 'eisa aasaaN naheeN lahoo rona
dil meiN taaqat jigar meiN haal kahaaN ?

[It is not so easy(now) to shed tears of blood
Where is the strength in the heart & the spiritual ecstasy in the being?]

A little bit on "haal". In temples & dargahs we have these people who get so
lost in the worship & thoughts of god, that they start shaking & trembling
as if in a trance. We say that these people have been possessed. This is
"haal" or spiritual ecstasy.

4. fikr-e-duniyaaN meiN sar khapaata hooN
maiN kahaaN aur ye wabaal kahaaN ?

[ I waste my time unnecessarily worrying about the world
Where am I & where is this calamity/burden?]

Ghalib says that even though I do not have the capacity and strength to
solve the problems of the world, I still worry about it. Huh! main
kahaaN(inability) aur yeh worries/burden(worldly problems) kahaaN!

5. muzmahil ho gaye quwa'a 'GHalib'
wo anaasir meiN 'eitdaal kahaaN ?

[All the limbs have got exhausted "Ghalib"
Where do the elements/parts have the moderation/capacity to continue?]

An example to explain this sher. If you notice weightlifters, lifting
weights, they do so, but not for long. Beyond a certain limit or after some
time, the capacity/strength starts to weaken and they are unable to
continue. This is the capacity of the limbs or 'baazuoN meiN 'eitdaal hona'.
Ghalib here says, that my limbs have got exhausted, because they do not have
the capacity to continue carrying the burden. The burden here of course
could be his burden of worries.

Dictionary : firaaq = separation; wisaal = meeting; shab = night; roz = day;
maah = month; saal = year; tasavvur = imagination; raanaai-e-KHayaal = tender thoughts;
haal = spiritual ecstasy; wabaal = calamity/burden ;
muzmahil = exhausted/idle; quwa'a = limbs; anaasir = elements/parts;
'eitdaal = moderation/capacity to continue