Murg-e-Sahar: Bird of Dawn

Murg-e-Sahar


Those of us who find Urdu poetry and its rendition through classical Hindustani music close to our hearts, will immediately relate to the similar effect of "Murg-e-Sahar" in Persian poetry with Persian classical music. I thought I would introduce Urdu fans here to this gem, on the occasion of the Persian new year that started a couple of weeks ago with Naurooz ("new day"). 

The song is traditional, written by Mohammad Taghi 'Bahaar', and the music was originally composed by Morteza Neydavood. Several artists have sung it, but the traditional style of Shajarian (in this video) is considered the pinnacle. 

Perhaps I should attempt a translation...but till then, here is one that helps with the key words. 

Life in Varanasi

"We think of renunciation happening formally, definitively..., but it can happen gradually, so gradually it doesn't feel like renunciation. I didn't renounce the world; I just became gradually less interested in certain aspects of it, less involved with it - and that diminution of interest was slowly reciprocated. That's how it works. The world stops singling you out; you stop feeling singled out by the world.

I remembered how personally I used to take everything. Two years previously, I'd been given tickets for the opening day at Wimbledon, Centre Court. It rained, off and on...By the end of the day, not a shot had been played. It was as if there was a curse on me. No one else - not the players or anyone else in the stadium - suffered to the extent that I did. It was my day, my Wimbledon, my parade that was being rained on.

The weather had come between me and what I wanted - which was to watch tennis. The pain and the rain were intolerable because they conformed to a broader climatic pattern: something was always coming between me and what I wanted. That afternoon at Wimbledon it was the rain; another day it was another thing. But there was always something. I realized now that that thing was me. I was in my way. I was ahead of me in the queue. I was keeping me waiting. Everything was a kind of waiting.

...in Varanasi I no longer felt like I was waiting. The waiting was over. I had taken myself out of the equation."


Lines that made it worth reading Geoff Dyer's "Jeff in Venice, Death in Varanasi".

Rawalpindi in Unionville

Rawalpindi in Unionville

[by Siyaah]

I heard of Rawalpindi

in Unionville

a city

with a village in its name

Over the radio

amidst the glass-figures

an explosion

Why did it bother me

a hand-crafted import

for a dollar

How many people

how many livelihoods?

Hadn't I heard of it

in cricket matches

at home

across the border

Was there anyone winning

was there a home

for me here?

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Rawalpindi: 'pind' means village in Punjabi

Unionville: 'ville' from the Latin root means farm/village

Lit Up with the Beloved's Beauty: A translation

Lit Up with the Beloved's Beauty
By Hasrat Mohani
Translated from the Urdu by Siyaah

Lit up with the beloved's beauty, is the assembly entire
Kindled with the blossom's fire, is the garden entire. [1]

Expressing surprise with vanity, anxiety with jest
Your heart too has learned the beloved's repertoire entire. [2]

O God, how unique is the beloved's body, that by itself
Drowned in colours is the raiment entire. [3]

Do see the enchanting gaze of the beloved's eyes
Struck unconscious in a glance, is the assembly entire. [4]

Meer's burning and melting is the sweetness of a breeze
Hasrat, in front of your verses pales the world of poetry entire. [5]


Translator's Notes

[1] Roshan: signifying light, as in 'lit up', contrast with Deheka in the next line, for which I have used the closest expression as 'kindle' which conveys the precise implications of 'set fire to; fuel; cause to glow'; Jamaal: beauty, elegance; Anjuman: assembly, meeting; Tamaam: entire, complete (but also see last note).

[2] Hairat: surprise, astonishment; Ghuroor-e-husn: pride of beauty, implying vanity; Shokhi: playfulness, jest, mirth; Izteraab: agitation, excitement, anxiety, restlessness, fear.

"Chalan (tamaam)" is here a kind of colloquial usage implying the beloved's ways, and had to rendered with some creativity using the expression "beloved's repertoire (entire)"

[3] Jism-e-yaar: body of beloved; Pairaahan: raiment, garment

[4] Chashm-e-yaar: eyes of beloved; The couplet has an interesting duality: does the 'glance' in the second line refer to the assembly looking at the beloved's eyes (especially in the context of the exhortation in the first line "Do see"), or the beloved casting a glance at the assembly? I think the latter would be the simpler interpretation.

[5] This was the most challenging couplet.

Sheerini-e-naseem: Sweetness of breeze; Sheerin generally means sweet, but can also refer to pleasant, gentle, affable, particularly as a characteristic of manners or speech.

Soz-e-gudaaz: literally Soz means Burning (implying heartrending, plaintive) and Gudaaz means Melting (implying tragic, heartbreaking). Soz-e-gudaaz is a Persian poetic expression often used for speech or poetry that is plaintive and tragic.

Sukhan: verses; Lutf-e-sukhan: Essence of verses / poetry

The last verse was difficult to rhyme with the rest in translation, as interestingly, the poet employs a different derived meaning of 'Tamaam' here i.e. 'to end' or 'to finish off'. This had to be rendered creatively with the introduction of 'world of poetry' to end with 'entire'.

Also, the poet's invocation of the one of the best known Urdu poets, Meer, in the last couplet is interesting. While praising Meer's works, he immediately follows it up with the highest praise for his own poetry (self-praise is not uncommon amongst Urdu poets). Also, I wonder if the metaphors used to describe Meer's works are somewhat tongue-in-cheek: It could be read as implying that all of Meer's burning and melting is but the sweetness of a breeze i.e. is not plaintive or heartrending enough, when compared with Hasrat's own works.

Roshan Jamaal-e-Yaar Se: Hasrat Mohani

Roshan Jamaal-e-Yaar Se
By Hasrat Mohani [1875-1951]

Roshan jamaal-e-yaar se hai anjuman tamaam

Deheka hua hai aatish-e-gul se chaman tamaam

Hairat ghuroor-e-husn se shokhi se iztaraab

Dil ne bhi tere seekh liye hain chalan tamaam

Allah-re jism-e-yaar ki khoobi ke khud-ba-khud

Rangeeniyon mein doob gaya pairahan tamaam

Dekho to chasm-e-yaar ki jaadu nigaahiyaan

Behosh ek nazar mei hui anjuman tamaam

Sheerini-e-naseem hai soz-o-gudaaz-e-meer 

Hasrat tere sukhan pe hai lutf-e-sukhan tamaam...

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Hasrat Mohani is generally known for his "chupke chupke" ghazal, but the other excellent works in his repertoire are rarely noted today. These include several patriotic as well as sufistic spiritual works. This particular ghazal has been a favorite of mine for a long time, particularly for its sufistic interpretation. Take your pick of the singing by Abida Parveen, Jagjit Singh, and Mehdi Hasan respectively below (though I find it is more powerful to hear without any possible visuals, which are unable to capture anything close to the idea...). Let's see how this one comes out in translation...