gesuu-e taabdaar ko
Published in baal-e jibriil (The Wing of Gabriel) (1935).
From: kulliyaat-e iqbaal urduu (Lahore: Shaikh Ghulam 'Ali and Sons Publishers, 1973 (and later reprints), *p. 299*
a *ghazal*; *meter*: = - - = / - = - = / = - - = / - = - =
Urdu spellings reflect adjustments made for the sake of the meter.
See the 'script bar' at the bottom of the page for viewing choices.
Here's *a serial glossary*.
1) |
gesu-e
taabdaar ko aur bhii taabdaar kar hosh-o-;xirad shikaar kar, qalb-o-na:zar shikaar kar ! |
1) make the curly locks even
curlier 2) hunt down awareness and intellect, hunt down heart and sight! |
|
= In the ghazal
tradition, the beloved's curls are often imagined as snares that she sets
to trap her prey. And of course, the beloved is often metaphorically God. = The intimate address (the beloved as ' tuu ') adds to the feeling of semi-erotic ardor. |
|
2) |
((ishq
bhii ho ;hijaab me;N , ;husn bhii ho ;hijaab me;N ! yaa to ;xvud aashkaar ho yaa mujhe aashkaar kar ! |
1) passion too might be in
the veil, beauty too might be in the veil! 2) either yourself become revealed, or reveal me! |
|
= How to translate
the subjunctives in the first line? 'Might be'? 'Let it be'? 'Would be'? = The ' ho ' forms in the first line could also be taken as imperatives, parallel to those in the second line: 'Become passion within the veil, become beauty within the veil!' = Here as elsewhere, the exclamation points are Iqbal's own; if I felt entitled, I'd delete them, since I think they weaken the autonomy and abstractness of the verse. |
|
3) |
tuu
hai mu;hii:t-e bekiraa;N , mai;N huu;N ;zaraa-sii aab-juu yaa mujhe ham-kinaar kar yaa mujhe be-kinaar kar ! |
1) you are a fathomless ocean,
I am a tiny-ish water-channel 2) either make me a shore-sharer, or make me shoreless! |
|
= A ravishing verse,
isn't it? I always think of it as evoking the great choice between dualism
(let me have a common 'shore' with you) and some kind of pantheistic monism
(dissolve my identity entirely). |
|
4) |
mai;N
huu;N .sadaf to tere haath mere guhar kii aabruu mai;N huu;N ;xazaf to tuu mujhe gauhar-e shaahvaar kar ! |
1) if I am an oyster-shell,
then in your hand is the brightness/honor of my pearl 2) if I am a pottery-shard, then make me a royal pearl! |
|
= .sadaf
is not a (pearl-making) oyster, but the shell material, mother-of-pearl;
this makes the very existence of the 'pearl' more hypothetical = Check out all the wordplay potential of the various meanings of aabruu , Platts p. 2 = the two spellings of 'pearl' -- guhar vs. gauhar -- are a permissible variation for the sake of the meter = .sadaf and ;xazaf as echo-words of partly similar and partly different meaning are obviously the heart of this verse; a ghazal's formal constraints often yield such rewards |
|
5) |
na;Gmah-e
nau-bahaar agar mere na.siib me;N nah ho is dam-e niim-soz ko :taa))irak-e bahaar kar ! |
1) if the melody of the new
spring would not be in my destiny 2) make this half-burnt breath a small bird of spring! |
|
6) |
baa;G-e
bihisht se mujhe ;hukm-e safar diyaa thaa kyuu;N ? kaar-e jahaa;N daraaz hai , ab miraa inti:zaar kar ! |
1) from the garden of Paradise,
why did you give me the order to travel? 2) the work of the world is long-- now wait for me! |
|
7) |
roz-e
;hisaab jab miraa pesh ho daftar-e ((amal aap bhii sharmsaar ho , mujh ko bhii sharmsaar kar ! |
1) on the day of accounts,
when my ledger of deeds would be presented 2) you yourself too be ashamed-- make me ashamed too! |
|
-- IQBAL index page -- *Platts Dictionary Online* -- FWP's main page --