sumptuously is also a man
And the one who begs for crumbs is also a man.
The sage, the saint, the prophet, yes—they all were men
The unbelievers, atheists, they too were men
The miracles they showed us were beyond our ken
They ruled us with the force of both the sword and pen
The creation who now seems a god? Also a man.
The Pharaoh did claim divinity, such were his lies
Shaddad made a city; called it his Paradise
Nimrod too decided to make the divine claim
What can I say? Fools! Their hubris was the same
The one who falls to such crass depths? Also a man.
Man is a blazing fire and the blessed light
It’s man who’s gone so far away, and is in our sight
It’s man who is so beautiful and is so right
And man it is who represents Lucifer’s blight
And he who saves us from perils? Also a man.
The mosques where we seek God’s help—why are they man-made?
Men led the prayers and helped us pay spiritual dues
It was men who were lost in God, and while they prayed
Men they were too, who crept around and stole their shoes
The one who screams at those rascals? Also a man.
Who’ll agree to sacrifice for another man?
Who’ll smite a man with a sword? He too is a man.
Who will besmirch a man’s reputation? A man!
Whom do the wretched call for redress? Yea, a man.
He who runs away, unheeding? Also a man.
Insha
Insha Allah Khan ‘Insha’ (1756–1817) symbolized the ways in which one could claim, quite unselfconsciously, that Urdu and Hindi were truly the same language. The felicity with which he moved from his Persianized ghazals to his Hindi-identified poems like ‘
Rani Ketki ki Kahani
’ 1 was not only wonderful but, as it were, unremarkable in those times. Unfortunately, he also epitomized the capricious future that lay in store for the poet who depended on royal patronage. Insha’s best poems were written in his final days, as he, spurned by his sponsors and penniless, lost his beloved son to illness and death, and inhabited the twilight zone between grief and madness.
Of the two ghazals I translate here, the famous ‘
Insha-ji utho
’ has been sung beautifully by Amanat Ali Khan, the maestro of the Patiala gharana. Mohammad Rafi sang his even more lugubrious and fatalistic ‘
Kamar baandhe hue
’
as a non-film piece.
1 Insha-ji utho
Insha-ji utho, ab kuchh karo, is shahr mein jee ka lagaana kya?
Vahshi ko sukoon se kya matlab? Jogi ka nagar mein thikaana kya?
Is dil ke dareeda-daaman ko dekho to sahi, socho to sahi
Jis jholi mein sau chhed hue us jholi ko phailaana kya?
Shab beeti chaand bhi doob gaya, zanjeer padi darvaaze mein
Kyon der gaye ghar aaye ho sajni se karoge bahana kya?
Us husn ke sanche moti ko hum dekh saken par chhoo na saken?
Jise dekh saken par chhoo na saken, vo daulat kya? Vo khazaana kya?
Jab shahr ke log na rasta den, kyon ban mein na ja bisraam kare?
Deevanon ki si na baat kare to aur kare deevana kya?
Arise insha-ji
Arise, Insha-ji, let’s depart
This city’s no place to settle down
We are madmen, we abhor peace
Mendicants have no place in a town.
Cast a glance at your tattered soul
Ponder awhile, with reason calm
Your heart’s but a shroud pierced with holes
Dare you use it to beg for alms?
The night is done, the moon is down
A strong secure chain locks your gate
How’ll you explain to your love now
The reason you’ve returned this late?
Her beauty is a pearl, but I
Can merely watch but dare not touch
Such treasure is hardly worth much,
Eludes the grasp and haunts the eye.
If city-dwellers forsake me
Should I in forests seek respite?
I am fated to insane speech
For such talk is the madman’s plight.
2 Kamar baandhe hue
Kamar baandhe hue chalne ko yaan sab yaar baithe hain
Bahut aage gaye, baaqi jo hain, taiyyar baithe hain
Na chhed ai nakhat-e baad-e bahaari raah lag apni
Tujhe ath-kheliyaan soojhi hai, hum bezaar baithe hain
Tasavvur arsh pe hai aur sar hai paa-e saaqi par
Gharaz kuchh aur dhun mein is ghadi
And the one who begs for crumbs is also a man.
The sage, the saint, the prophet, yes—they all were men
The unbelievers, atheists, they too were men
The miracles they showed us were beyond our ken
They ruled us with the force of both the sword and pen
The creation who now seems a god? Also a man.
The Pharaoh did claim divinity, such were his lies
Shaddad made a city; called it his Paradise
Nimrod too decided to make the divine claim
What can I say? Fools! Their hubris was the same
The one who falls to such crass depths? Also a man.
Man is a blazing fire and the blessed light
It’s man who’s gone so far away, and is in our sight
It’s man who is so beautiful and is so right
And man it is who represents Lucifer’s blight
And he who saves us from perils? Also a man.
The mosques where we seek God’s help—why are they man-made?
Men led the prayers and helped us pay spiritual dues
It was men who were lost in God, and while they prayed
Men they were too, who crept around and stole their shoes
The one who screams at those rascals? Also a man.
Who’ll agree to sacrifice for another man?
Who’ll smite a man with a sword? He too is a man.
Who will besmirch a man’s reputation? A man!
Whom do the wretched call for redress? Yea, a man.
He who runs away, unheeding? Also a man.
Insha
Insha Allah Khan ‘Insha’ (1756–1817) symbolized the ways in which one could claim, quite unselfconsciously, that Urdu and Hindi were truly the same language. The felicity with which he moved from his Persianized ghazals to his Hindi-identified poems like ‘
Rani Ketki ki Kahani
’ 1 was not only wonderful but, as it were, unremarkable in those times. Unfortunately, he also epitomized the capricious future that lay in store for the poet who depended on royal patronage. Insha’s best poems were written in his final days, as he, spurned by his sponsors and penniless, lost his beloved son to illness and death, and inhabited the twilight zone between grief and madness.
Of the two ghazals I translate here, the famous ‘
Insha-ji utho
’ has been sung beautifully by Amanat Ali Khan, the maestro of the Patiala gharana. Mohammad Rafi sang his even more lugubrious and fatalistic ‘
Kamar baandhe hue
’
as a non-film piece.
1 Insha-ji utho
Insha-ji utho, ab kuchh karo, is shahr mein jee ka lagaana kya?
Vahshi ko sukoon se kya matlab? Jogi ka nagar mein thikaana kya?
Is dil ke dareeda-daaman ko dekho to sahi, socho to sahi
Jis jholi mein sau chhed hue us jholi ko phailaana kya?
Shab beeti chaand bhi doob gaya, zanjeer padi darvaaze mein
Kyon der gaye ghar aaye ho sajni se karoge bahana kya?
Us husn ke sanche moti ko hum dekh saken par chhoo na saken?
Jise dekh saken par chhoo na saken, vo daulat kya? Vo khazaana kya?
Jab shahr ke log na rasta den, kyon ban mein na ja bisraam kare?
Deevanon ki si na baat kare to aur kare deevana kya?
Arise insha-ji
Arise, Insha-ji, let’s depart
This city’s no place to settle down
We are madmen, we abhor peace
Mendicants have no place in a town.
Cast a glance at your tattered soul
Ponder awhile, with reason calm
Your heart’s but a shroud pierced with holes
Dare you use it to beg for alms?
The night is done, the moon is down
A strong secure chain locks your gate
How’ll you explain to your love now
The reason you’ve returned this late?
Her beauty is a pearl, but I
Can merely watch but dare not touch
Such treasure is hardly worth much,
Eludes the grasp and haunts the eye.
If city-dwellers forsake me
Should I in forests seek respite?
I am fated to insane speech
For such talk is the madman’s plight.
2 Kamar baandhe hue
Kamar baandhe hue chalne ko yaan sab yaar baithe hain
Bahut aage gaye, baaqi jo hain, taiyyar baithe hain
Na chhed ai nakhat-e baad-e bahaari raah lag apni
Tujhe ath-kheliyaan soojhi hai, hum bezaar baithe hain
Tasavvur arsh pe hai aur sar hai paa-e saaqi par
Gharaz kuchh aur dhun mein is ghadi
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