koi ye kah de gulshan gulshan – Jigar Morarabadi. Translated

Maharaj Kaul
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koī ye kah de gulshan gulshan

laakh balā.eñ ek nasheman

 

let someone proclaim from garden to garden

there are innumerable calamities but only one nest

 

qātil rahbar qātil rahzan

dil sā dost na dil sā dushman

 

expert guide killer highwayman

no friend like heart no enemy like heart

 

phuul khile haiñ gulshan gulshan

lekin apnā apnā dāman

 

flowers are blooming in gardens

but each flower has its own fate

 

ishq hai pyāre khel nahīñ hai

ishq hai kāre-shīsha-o-āhan

 

it is love dear game it is not

love is a work of glass and iron

 

ḳhair mizāj-e-husn kī yā-rab

tez bahut hai dil kī dhaḌkan

 

let the spirit of love bloom O God

very fast is the beat of heart

 

aa ki na jaane tujh bin kab se

ruuh hai lāsha jism hai madfan

 

come without you do not know since when

soul is dead body a grave

 

aaj na jaane raaz ye kyā hai

hijr kī raat aur itnī raushan

 

today do not know what the mystery is

it is night of separation but yet it is illuminated

 

umreñ bītīñ sadiyāñ guzrīñ

hai vahī ab tak ishq kā bachpan

 

lives have been spent centuries have passed

has remained the same till now love’s childlike innocence

 

tujh sā hasīñ aur ḳhūn-e-mohabbat

vahm hai shāyad surḳhi-e-dāman

 

as beautiful as you and slayer of love

I have a fear it may turn out to be bloody

 

barq-e-havādis allāh allāh

jhuum rahī hai shāḳh-e-nasheman

 

lessening of calamities oh God oh God

dancing is the branch holding the nest

 

tū ne sulajh kar gesū-e-jānāñ

aur baḌhā dī shauq kī uljhan

 

by straightening the tresses of beloved

you have increased the tangles of my love

 

rahmat hogī tālib-e-isyāñ

rashk karegī pākī-e-dāman

 

it will be merciful for one demanding rebellion

jealous will be your purity of soul

 

dil ki mujassam ā.īna-sāmāñ

aur vo zālim ā.īna-dushman

 

heart’s image is being a mirror

and that tyrant is the mirror of the enemy

 

baiThe ham har bazm meñ lekin

jhaaḌ ke uTThe apnā dāman

 

sat in every gathering but

got up leaving what transpired

 

hastī-e-shā.er allāh allāh

husn kī manzil ishq kā maskan

 

life of a poet at mercy of God

destination of beauty is love’s abode

 

rañgīñ fitrat saada tabī.at

farsh-nashīñ aur arsh-nasheman

 

colorful nature simple state

floor sitter and clestial

 

kaam adhūrā aur āzādī

naam baḌe aur thoḌe darshan

 

work incomplete but expecting independence

big reputation but low essence

 

sham.a hai lekin dhuñdlī dhu.dlī

saayā hai lekin raushan raushan

 

candle yet dim light

shade but illuminating

 

kāñToñ kā bhī haq hai kuchh āḳhir

kaun chhuḌā.e apnā dāman

 

even thorns have some rights

who is to save one’s fate

 

chaltī phirtī chhāñv hai pyāre

kis kā sahrā kaisā gulshan

 

world is a transient moving shadow

whose desert which garden

 

 

Videos:

  1. Begum Akhtar’s rendering of the ghazal, but it is incomplete. https://youtu.be/gCpVLciXIJg
  2. Rageshri Das’s rendering, also incomplete.

https://youtu.be/SXc290fYlFs

 

 

Suffern, New York, Oct. 10, 2021

www.kaulscorner.com

maharaj.kaul@yahoo.com

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