Ghazal (mine)

I don’t usually preface my verse. This is something I wrote sometime ago, I waited until I was in the mood to translate this into English, for those who read my posts but don’t know Hindustani.

I’ve tried to keep a meter to the verse; this means, of course, that some of the couplets aren’t faithfully translated, however I have managed to convey the sense of the words (or so I vainly think). What follows is a ghazal in Hindustani, a transliteration into English and the translation thereof. I hope you like it.

गो हम सोचते थे उसे प्यार है
मगर वो तो गाफिल है बेज़ार है
उसी को न जाना, गो बीती उमर
वो दौर-ए-ज़मां से बहुत पार है
सुनते हैं शोरिश-ए-महफ़िल को हम
यहां बात करना तो बेकार है
ये चुप्पी जो दिल में है बैठी हुई
बहुत आरज़ुओं का ये सार है
सिले लब को देखो ये कहते हैं क्या
कि हम ख़ूं मे लथपथ हैं लाचार हैं
मेरी ख़ामुशी से वो नाखुश से हैं
मगर पूछने से भी इन्कार है
हुए ग़ैर के पे वो पाकीज़ा हैं
हम ख़ुद के न हो के भी नाकार हैं
गो है उम्र लम्बी तमन्नाओं की
मगर ज़िन्दगानी के दिन चार हैं
जिसे जैसा समझा वो वैसा नहीं
सभी का मुखौटा है, किरदार है
झूठे हैं झूठी है इनकी हर बात
परख के तो देखा कई बार है
समझना तो दुनिया को चाहते हैं हम
ख़ुद ही को समझने से इन्कार है

go hum sochte they usey pyaar hai
magar woh to gaafil hai, bezaar hai
usi ko na jaana, go beeti umar
woh daur-e-jahan ke bahut paar hai
sunte hain shorish-e-mehfil ko hum
yahaan baat karna to bekaar hai
yeh chuppi jo dil mein hai baithi hui
bahur aarzuon ka yeh saar hai
siley lab ko dekho yeh kehte hain kya
ki hum khoon mein lathpath hain laachaar hain
meri khamushi se woh nakhush se hain
magar poochhne se bhi inkaar hai
huey ghair ke pe woh paaqeeza hain
hum khud ke na ho ke bhi naakaar hain
go hai umr lambi tamannaaon ki
magar zindagani ke din chaar hain
jise jaisa socha woh waisa nahin
sabhi ka mukhota hai kirdaar hai
jhoothe hain jhuthi hai inki har baat
parakh ke to dekha kai baar hai
samajhna to duniya ko chahte hain hum
khud hi ko samajhne se inkaar hai

Though I dreamt that she loved me true
But she’s uncaring, indifferent too
I couldn’t unravel, I tried in vain
She seems beyond this earthly plane
I listen to the noisy, querulous world
My words are pebbles at mountains hurled
This silence that entombs me deep
Is a coffin for dreams that I, still, keep
I purse my lips, in vain I try
To form a silent deafening cry
She says she hates my silence, still
Ask, “Why?”, oh she never will
She gains someone and stays so right
I lose myself and stay a blight
Unfulfilled wishes live long
But life’s a short and tuneless song
I see no one is as they say
They all have masks, a role to play
They’re liars, liars, liars all
I trusted and how did I fall!
What lies within, I will not see
And strive to know eternity.