GHUNCHA E NASHAGUFTA KO

Ghuncha e nashagufta ko dour say mautt dikha keh youn
Bosay ko poochata hoon main munh say mujhay bataa keh youn

Do not show the budding bouquet from far away, just like so.
I ask about a kiss, show me with your lips,just like so.

(The poet is comparing the beloved’s lips to a bouquet of budding flowers. He says they are not for showing from a distance but are worthy of being kissed.)


Purshish e tarz e dilbaree kijiay kaya keh bin kahay
Ous kay her aik isharay say niklay hai yeh aada keh youn

What need ask, how to please the lady-love? for without saying,
Her every hint and sign does show, as if to say, just like so.

(Simple verse and does not need further elaboration.)


Raat kay waqt mai piay saath raqeeb ko liay
Aaye wo yaan khuda karay, pur na karay khuda keh youn

Having had a drink at night and in the rival’s company,
May lord she come here, but no lord, not, just like so.

(The poet hopes that the beloved comes to visit him after having had a drink and accompanied with his rival, but then he hopes that it is not so, i.e. she should come without the rival.)


Ghair say raat kaya bani, yeh jo kaha toe daikheayay
Samnay aan baithna aur yeh daikhna keh youn

This I asked, how did it go with the stranger, last night?
She came to sit face to face and gazed at me, as if to say, just like so.

(When the poet asked about the loves venture with the stranger, she came and sat face and face with him and looked straight in his eyes. As if to say that was how it was.)

Bazam mein ous kay roo ba roo kayoon neh khamoosh baithiaay
Ous key toe khamoshee mein bhee hai yeh he mudoaa keh youn

In her company, side by side, why not sit by quietly.
For her own silence suggests and shows, as if to say, just like so.

(Simple verse.)

Main nay kaha keh bazm e naaz chaiyay ghair say tahee
Soun kay sitam zareef nay mujh ko utha diya keh youn

Said I, that decent company, should be free of strangers.
Hearing this she made me go, as if to say, just like so.

(Simple verse. Does not need further elaboration.)

Mujh say kaha jo yar nay jatay hain housh kis turrah
Deikh kay meree bay khudee chulnay lagi hava keh youn

She enquired of me, how do one’s senses go?
Seeing my state of stupor, the breeze began to blow, as if to say, Just like so.

(The beloved asked of the poet as to how does get so stupefied. Seeing him in such a state a soft breeze went by as if to tell her how quickly and quietly one looses sense and sensibility.)

Kub mujhay kooaye yar mein rehnay ki waza yaad thee
Aaina dar bun gayee hairat e nuksh e paa keh youn

When did I remember the etiquette to live in a lover’s lane.
My gait reflected my anxious state,as if to say, just like so.

(When ever the poet went to the lovers lane he became unsteady in his walk.)

Gar taray dil mein hoe khayal wasal mein shouq ka zaval
Mauj muheeth e aab mein maray hai dast o paa keh youn

Were your heart to reflect, upon loss of desire,
at the moment of peak.
A wave, in an all engulfing ocean, struggles with hands and feet as if to say, just like so.

(In the mighty ocean of desire one tends to forget the measure of its intensity and completely loses ones identity, just as if a wave keeps up a struggle to keep afloat in the depth of an ocean.)

Joe yeh kahay keh rekhta kayun keh hoe rashk e farsee
Gufta e Ghalib eak bar purhh kay ousay suna keh youn

Were one to say, how can Persian be envious of Urdu?
Read out to him a Ghalib’s verse, as if to say, just like so

(Persian has been the lingua franca of India, and the inspiration for all writers and poets before the rise of Urdu. Ghalib took Urdu to such heights in both prose and poetry that he has the right to claim that Persian now feels jealous of it.)