Duniya
[By Moin Ahsan Jazbi]
Marne ki duaein kyun maangoon, jeene ki tamanna kaun kare,
Ye duniya ho ya wo duniya, ab khwahish-e-duniya kaun kare.
Jo aag lagayi thi tum ne, usko to bujhaaya ashkon ne,
Jo ashkon ne bhaRhkai hai, us aag ko thanda kaun kare.
Jab kashti saabit-o-saalim thi, saahil ki tamanna kisko thi,
Ab aisi shikasta kashti par, saahil ki tamanna kaun kare.
Duniya ne humein chhoRha Jazbi, hum chhoRh na dein kyun duniya ko,
Duniya ko samajh kar baithe hain, ab duniya duniya kaun kare.
Jazbi (1912-2005) was born in Azamgarh and had a long association with Aligarh, where he received his Ph.D. in Urdu and continued as an academic. He is counted among the most prominent 20th century Urdu poets. His most famous poetry is excessively morose and even deals directly with existential issues. The ghazal above, which I have titled "Duniya", is one of his most well known works, and is typical of his style - highly lyrical yet easily interwoven with the most difficult themes.
Listen here to a quaint rendition of the above ghazal by the lesser known but highly regarded, Habib Wali (the sound quality isn't all that great. I might upload from my collection later).
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Posts
16 comments:
Thanks a lot ! I lost my Habib Wali Md CD sometime back, and got to hear him after so long.
I also found the Aaj Jaane ki Zid Na Karo at MusicIndiaonline.
If you have others as well, do upload.
He is so similar to Mukesh but closer still to CH Atma, another wonderful singer.
I just heard aaj Jaane ki Zid @ musicindia and realized that it is sung by Talat Aziz, a good singer when reigned in, but doesn't come out very well here.
bhupinder: Yes, Habib Wali is amazing...grows on one slowly but surely. The link I provided was from a bunch of links I found here:
http://mia.ece.uic.edu/%7Epapers/WWW/temp/HWM/
Some kind soul has put all those up...enjoy. I have several numbers by Wali in a CD, I'll update if I can upload them somewhere.
it is great ghazal.
and thanks for introducing me to jazbi.
"Jab kashti saabit-o-saalim thi, saahil ki tamanna kisko thi,
Ab aisi shikasta kashti par, saahil ki tamanna kaun kare."
-really liked this verse.. kind of a representation of the contrast of our attitudes in happiness and sorrow.(there may be some deeper meaning also, which i didn't get)
Word_smith: glad you liked it! Jazbi is worth exploring more for sure.
Introvert: I like your interpretation!
On a separate note, my apologies on not following through with the 'tag' on my 'weirdness'...but perhaps I can respond in the style of this blog, by pointing to a ghazal I translated earlier, as a 'self-critique': "Aap bohot ajeeb hain" - "You indeed are strange/weird"...
Aap bohot ajeeb hain
I havent read much of Jazbi myself but now will hunt around for a few of his works on your recommendation. I liked the kashti verse too :)
waiting for your upload as I am unable to hear the ghazal from the link provided.
Not related to this post, but I thought I should write.
Thank you for the comment about Azad Karachi Radio on Urdu ke Naam. Please do stop by http://AzadKarachiRadio.blogspot.com and provide us with input.
I really like your "zauq" and attitude to Urdu literature. Would you care to contribute commentary, etc. to Azad Karachi Radio? Please?!
Drop me an email at iFaqeer@gmail.com and let's discuss this.
that's perfectly OK. i myself didn't do that in true sense! and doing a tag doesn't suit the flavour of your blog. thanx that u cared to talk about it.
and u definitely have come up with a suitable version. That ghazal and the translation both r wonderful.
Jo aag lagayi thi tum ne, usko to bujhaaya ashkon ne,
Jo ashkon ne bhaRhkai hai, us aag ko thanda kaun kare
Nice lines. They remind me of the song from Amar Prem (Chingari koi bhadke).
The first couplet is simply superb! Thanks for introducing me to Jazbi!
illusionist: thanks. I'm sure you will enjoy other Jazbi works too.
ifaqeer: thank you for the appreciation. I am very honored. I have noticed that you are involved with a lot of interesting work...wish u the best with it. I am very much an amateur in these areas...not sure I could contribute anything yet! but I will keep an eye on your sites for future. In case you would like to use anything from this blog, feel free (just attribute / link).
introvert: glad u liked "Aap bohot ajeeb hain"...not many ppl saw it I guess as it was the first ghazal I translated.
tapasya: you're welcome! i feel that a lot of the 'serious' poetry finds echoes in the popular 'movie song lyrics'...either thru direct inspiration, or indirectly.
Wonderful verses there. And matches my mood too! Must admit had never heard of Moin Ahsan Jazbi before - goes without saying that U must turn a blind eye to my ignorance.
Any idea, if Jazbi was based in Aligarh in his later years? Just curious.
arfi:
"...matches my mood too.."
You might not have heard of 'Jazbi', but you sure know one when you see one!
Actually, I'm not sure myself how long his association with Aligarh lasted...perhaps someone else might help us here...
Aadab
Kamaal kar diya...
Jazbi bhi ajab shaayar thaa. In the beginning his takhallus was 'malaal'. He also showed his ghazals to none other but Fani.
True love eluded him. Even at the age of 85, he told Anwar Rashid that 'aap meN se kisii ko mohabbat milii ho to aap kushqismat haiN'.
Despite his idiosyncracies, he was a great human being. His stepmother did everything possible to make life difficult for him but in her old age he was the only person who took care of her, forgetting the past. And his visit to Punjab when he had just a few paisas left and some 'chana' to eat....
'jab jeb meN paise hote haiN, jab peT meN roTi hotii hai, us waqt yeh zarra hiiraa hai, us waqt yeh shanam moti hai'
Meloncholy is the word that comes to you with the thought of jazbi but he was mutrib-e-gham rather than poets who wail.
Tum boh't yaad aate ho Jazbi....(ps....just updated my blogroll....belatedly though)
Habib Wali has sung it well but I don't know whether my net connection is slow...beech beech meN ruk jaata hai, aawaaz ghayab ho jaati hai.
indscribe:
thanks for sharing so much more about Jazbi! hope to learn more through your expert comments here...
hope you can hear Wali...the youtube file is high quality so it might be the connection...works fine otherwise...
Post a Comment