Archive for November, 2010
Ghalib – Few Ghazals in English
By My Late Father Syed Shahab Uddin Ahmad, former lecturer of Chemistry, Aligarh Muslim University during 1941-1951 & warden Sir Syed Hall.
(Kal Kay Leay Kar Aaj Naa Khissat Sharab Mayn)
O! cup bearer store not thy wine for the morrow,
And thus belittle the boundless bounty
Of one, Who has promised to serve on Reckoning Day,
From the Fountain Divine, to Heav’n bound souls.
Abased today why we must be, for till
The Yestermorn the haughty angles were
Despised for disobedience to man?
O! why alone the mystic songs
Our senses stun,
Lo! when the self-same notes come out
From all the reeds and wires and drums?
Age rides a galloping steed;
Unbridled and saddle-less it is,
Then who can say when it will stop?
So little of self I know, as much
Aware about others I am.
When all creations manifest the Omnipotent
I wonder, why should nurture hope
To witness Him on Judgment Day?
Probabilities on realities thrive
Like drops and waves and bubbles
Which, on the existence of the sea depend.
Her coyness is a ruse;
Thus exposed more than veiled
She is to her dear one.
Hasn’t done with cosmetics yet,
The mirror is insight always under the veil.
What we think is manifest, is yet unknown,
He is still in dreams, who is awake in dreams.
Ghalib! the scent of Friend
Comes from the Friend’s friend;
And I am engrossed in the Truth
In my obedience to His disciples commands.
___________________________
(Sab Kahan Kutch Lala-o-Gul Mayn Numayan Ho Gian)
Many a form under a mould is hid,
Only a few as a rose or tulip shine.
Even to me were known the revelries,
But with the youth have fled all these,
And now their very thought is growing dim
Like figures in the limbo of oblivion.
The corpse bearer of the universe at day,
Behind the curtains were, but lo!
At night what stirred their hearts
That they, their veils did throw.
Tho’ Jacob asked not for his son in the prison,
His eyes like holes in the walls grew lusterless.
The Egyptian queen might be displeased
With all her rivals, but was
Happy with the ladies of Egypt
As, they were lost in admiring her proud choice,
The moon of Cana’n.
Let streams of blood ooze out of my eyes
On sep’ration eve, and I will think
That candles two are lit to shed their light.
My vengeance I will take on these beauties
In Heav’n, if God turns them there to houries.
Peaceful slumber, sweet dreams and restful nights
For him are meant,
On whose shoulders thy tresses have
Scattered been.
As I wandered into the grove,
As if, a school’s teaching session began;
The nightingales on hearing my laments
Began reciting my ghazals.
O! God those gazes are piercing my heart,
Which to my misfortune
Have turned to eye lashes.
I restrict my laments and they
My heart did fill and served
To mend the tear of my neck-cloth.
I have exhausted all my well wishes
To bless the gate keeper,
Now how shall I respond
To her welcoming abuses if
At all I go to her.
The Wine’s necter for him who holds the cup,
The lines of his hands are all, as if turned
Into veins thro’ which the life blood runs.
I believe in Unity;
My religion is non observance of rituals;
When sects dissolved, arose,
Bases of pure faith.
If man becomes accustomed to grief,
They lose their pangs,
And I, in constant hardships comfort feel.
If Ghalib thus will mourn, then you beware
Desolation will spread on every place.
___________________________
(Koi Umeed Bar Nahi Aati )
All hopes elude and prospects fail,
When death must come why then these sleepless nights.
There was a time when heart I smiled away,
Now naught there is to win my smile.
I know that piety goodness breeds,
But O! the heart reluctant feels.
Something there is that holds my tongue,
Else what cannot the words convey.
Why should I not wail in anguish?
My love searches for me when my wailing stops.
The stain on my heart cannot be seen,
Nor the odor coming out of it can be smelled.
So lost in the maze of thoughts I dwell,
Not knowing ought of my own self.
I long for death to come, but woe?
It only seems to flit away.
How will you Ghalib Ka’ba face,
Ashamed of self you do not seem.
___________________________
(Naqsh Faryadi Hay Kiss Key Shokh-e-Tehreer Ka)
Whose daring drawings
The pictures are complaining of;
Each one of them draped
In paper raiment is?
Ask not about the arduous, die hard
Struggling, lonely life;
The restlessness from dusk to dawn
Is cutting like a sweet water – course in the rocks.
Behold the fervent fond emotions bursting forth!
Indeed the cutting edge of sword is found
Away from sword’s heart!!
Awareness may lay its snares
To listen to it, all along the way,
Yet, the meaning of my writings
Will ev ‘r elusive remain.
Even in confinement O! Ghalib
Restless I am, as if, tortured
By fire under the feet;
But the ring of my fetter is witness to
The heat of blazing fire.
___________________________
Ban PCB & Cricket in Pakistan
In order to put a full stop to the daily doze of humiliation being churned out to Pakistan by the ICC, government must disband PCB & all cricket in Pakistan.
This will choke to death, match fixing mafia (consisting of management, players & bookies) in the country & abroad, once forever, which has defamed Pakistan & damaged its image, beyond the tolerance level of any self respecting honourable nation.
Corruption Bites : Callousness With Pakistani Hajis
Prime Minister of Pakistan must immediately dismiss and order the arrest of Minister & Secretary, Religious affairs for all the hardships (not even water & tents are available & Hajis are forced live on roads) being faced by Pakistani Hajis in Saudi Arabia and for bringing disrepute, to the name of the country.
Actually, government high ups always challenge to prove any case of corruption, knowing fully well that the corrupt never leave any receipt, as its proof. However, corruption always explodes with a bang either in the shape of a fallen bridge or Hajis left high and dry, in the Holy land of Saudi Arabia.
May be it is also a fit case for Suo Moto action.


