Date: Fri, 13 Sep 96 13:27:00 PDT
From: Ramesh Hariharan (rameshh@tp.ac.sg)
Subject: Daagh: phiray raah say woh...

A ghazal by one of the other greats, 'Daagh' Dehlvi. Notice the beautiful
usage of the 'radif'( the common ending words that must occur on the 2nd
line of every sher in a ghazal) 'aatay aatay'.

1. phiray raah say woh yahaN aatay aatay
ajal mer rahee too kahaaN aatay aatay

[She turned in her path on the way here
Death, where are you dying on the way here]

Daagh is close to death(symbolic) from waiting for his beloved. But now,
even death is elluding him.

2. mujhe yaad karney say yeh muddaa thaa
nikal jaay dum hitchkyaaN aatay aatay

[In remembering me, the reason/wish/hope was that
my life slip/go away, as my hiccup came]

When a person dies, his last breath is spasmodic, and the soul slips away.
Also, when somone has hiccups, we say, someone is remembering that person.
Daagh has used this so beautifully. He says, "He/she wants to remember me,
with the hope that when I get the hiccup, my life would slip away".

3. kalaija meray mooN ko aaye ga ik din
yooNhi lub pe aah-o-fooGHaN aatay aatay

[My heart will come to my mouth one day
as my calmouring and shouting comes to my lips(everyday)]

When you shout and scream with all your energy, all the veins in the body
stand out, and one feels as if the heart will come out of the mouth. Daagh
says that, my patience is dying down(from pain), and i will clamour and cry
one day and my heart will come out of my mouth.

4. nateeja na nikla, thakay sub payami
wahaN jaatay jaatay, yahaN aatay aatay

[There was no result, and all the messengers got tired
by constantly going to and fro]

5. naheeN khel, ay 'daagh'! yaaroN say keh do
Keh aatee hae Urdu zUbaaN aatay aatay

[It is not a joke/play, ei 'daagh', tell your friends
that Urdu is a language that is difficult to learn]

Even though a person knows Urdu, there is a feeling that one does not know
it yet. One feels that it keeps coming on, without stoppage.

Dictionary : ajal = death; muddaa = a wish; hitchkeeyaaN = hiccoughs (here, to breathe spasmodically, as in agony of death);
kalaija = heart; aah-o-fooGHaN = cry of pain or distress; payami = messenger