milti hai zindagi meiN mohabbat kabhi kabhi

In Aankhen (1968) Sahir Ludhianvi had written a beautiful GHazal "milti hai zindagii meN mohabbat kabhii kabhii"

This was inspired from a GHazal of Nasir Kazmi:

hotii hai tere naam se wahshat kabhii kabhii

barham hu_ii hai yuuN bhii tabiiyat kabhii kabhii

ae dil kise nasiib ye taufiiq e iztaraab

miltii hai zindagii meN ye raahat kabhii kabhii

tere karam se ae alam e husn e aafriiN

dil ban gayaa hai dost kii KHilwat kabhii kabhii

josh e junuuN meN dard kii tuGHyaaniyoN ke saath

ashkoN meN Dhal ga_ii terii suurat kabhii

tere qariib rah ke bhii dil mutma_in na thaa

guzrii hai mujh pe ye bhii qayaamat kabhii kabhii

kuchh apnaa hosh thaa na tumhaaraa KHayaal thaa

yuuN bhii guzar ga_ii shab e furqat kabhii kabhii

ae dost ham ne tark e mohabbat ke baavajood

mahsuus kii hai terii zaruurat kabhii kabhii

-Nasir Kazmi

Qamar Dehlvi or Dagh Jalalabadi?

Qamar Jalalabadi had a great eye for catchy couplets in the works of the asaateza (ustad-s) of Urdu poetry which could be reused to great effect in dramatic film situations as well as comic ones.  Qamar saahib collaborated with OP Nayyar in a song sung in the film Basant (1960) by Mohammed Rafi, Shiv Dayal Batish and Asha Bhosle where he put this 'poetrickery' :-) to good use.

The situation in the song is one witnessed often in the films of that era: the heroine is being wooed by the loser "villain" in a birthday party to which the hero has not been invited due to his station in life.  The hero, not to be outdone, comes to the party anyway, disguised as a poet, singer or qawwal, accompanied by his best friend and his woman.



The mukhda of the song is taken as-is, without modification, by Qamar Jalalabadi from a Ghazal by Dagh Dehlvi:

hamne unke saamne pahle to Khanjar rakh diyaa
phir kalejaa rakh diyaa, dil rakh diyaa, sar rakh diyaa

qatrah-e-Khoon-e-jigar see ki tawajjoh 'ishq kii
saamne mehmaan ke jo thaa muyassar rakh diyaa

zindagi meiN to kabhi dam bhar na hote the judaa
qabr mein tanhaa mujhe yaaroN kyuuNkar rakh diyaa

dekhiye ab ThokareiN khaati hai kis kis ki nigaah
rozan-e-deewaar meN zaalim ne patthar rakh diyaa

zulf Khaali, haath Khaali, kis jagah DhooNDeiN ise
tum ne dil lekar kahaaN, ai banda.parwar, rakh diyaa?

jaag dard-e-ishq jaag

Hafeez Jalandhari wrote:
jaag soz-e-ishq jaag, jaag soz-e-ishq jaag
toone aaNkh band kee, kaa_enaat so gayee
husn KHudpasand kee din se raat ho gayee
zard paR gayaa suhaag, jaag soz-e-ishq jaag

Here it is in Malka Pukhraj's voice.


Rajinder Krishen changed the word "soz" to "dard" and wrote the mukhRaa for Anarkali (1953) as "Jaag dard-e-ishq jaag"

kyaa huaa ik baat par barsoN ka yaaraanaa gayaa

Majrooh Sultanpuri's song in Teri Kasam (1982) inspired by Khatir Ghaznavi's (1925-2008) Ghazal

go zaraa sii baat par barsoN ke yaaraane ga_e
lekin itnaa to huaa kuchh log pahchaane ga_e

maiN ise shohrat kahuuN yaa apnii rusvaa_i kahuuN
mujh se pahle us galii meN mere afsaane ga_e

yuuN to wo merii rag-e-jaaN se bhii the nazdiik tar
aaNsuoN kii dhund meN lekin na pahchaane ga_e

vahshateN kuchh is tarah apnaa muqaddar ho gayiiN
ham jahaaN pahuNche hamaare saath viiraane ga_e

ab bhii un yaadoN kii Kushbuu zahen meN mahfuuz hai
baaraha ham jin se gulzaaroN ko mahkaane ga_e

kyaa qayaamat hai ki Kaatir kushta-e-shab bhi the ham
jab hui subah to mujrim hum hi gardaane ga_e


here is a rendition in Mehdi Hasan's voice

man re tuu kaahe na dhiir dhare

"man re tuu kaahe na dhiir dhare" is an exceptional song.
Great rendition by Rafi, wonderful tune by Roshan and lovely poetry by Sahir make this song an all time great. In its January 26, 2006 issue the Outlook Magazine carried out a survey on the 20 Best Hindi Songs Ever, where "Outlook asked 30 leading composers, lyricists and singers to name their all-time favourite Hindi film songs" and this one emerged on top. Earlier Lata Mangeshkar had sung this song in her album "Shraddhanjali" as a tribute.

One of the verses in this song is:

is jiivan kii cha.Dhatii Dhalatii
dhuup ko kisane baa.ndhaa
ra.ng pe kisane pahare Daale
ruup ko kisane baa.ndhaa
kaahe ye jatan kare

This verse echoes two misras of a nazm "bint e lamhaat" written a year earlier by Akhtar ul Imaan.

bhalaa kisii ne kabhii raNg-o-buu ko pakRa hai
shafaq ko qaid meN rakkhaa, sabaa ko baNd kiyaa


Here is the whole nazm:
bint-e-lamhaat

tumhaare lahje meN jo ye garmii-o-halaavat hai
ise bhalaa saa ko_ii naam do wafaa kii jagah
GHaniim-e-nuur kaa hamlaa kaho andheroN par
dayaar-e-dard meN aamad kaho masiihaa kii
ravaaN davaaN hu_e KHushbu ke qaafile har suu
KHalaa-e-subah meN guuNjii saher kii shahnaa_ii
ye aik kohraa saa, ye dhundh sii jo chhaa_ii hai
is iltihaab meN is surmagiiN ujaale meN
sivaa tumhaare mujhe kuchh nazar nahiiN aataa
hayaat naam hai yaadoN kaa talKH aur shiiriiN
bhalaa kisii ne kabhii raNg-o-buu ko pakRaa hai
shafaq ko qaid meN rakkhaa, sabaa ko baNd kiyaa
har aik lamha gurezaaN hai jaise dushman hai
na tum milogii na maiN, ham bhii donoN lamhe haiN
vo lamhe jaa ke jo vaapas kabhee nahiiN aate.

23 May, 1963

maine rakha hai mohabbat

In 1952 Faiz Ahmed Faiz wrote the Ghazal
raNg pairaahan kaa KHusbuu zulf lahraane kaa naam
mausam-e-gul hai tumhaare baam par aane kaa naam

which had the following lines

mujhse kahte haiN chaman waale GHariibaan-e-chaman
tum koii achchhaa saa rakh lo apne viiraane kaa naam

Javed Anwar recycled the second lines of this verse as
tum bhii kuchh achchhaa saa rakh lo apne diiwaane kaa naam in a song for Shabnam (1964)

Dar na muhabbat kar le/do lafzoN kii hai

Majrooh Sultanpuri wrote the following song for Andaz (1949)

duniyaa faanii tuu bhii faanii
letaa jaa ulfat kii nishaanii
do lafazo.n kii ek kahaanii
ek mohabbat ek javaanii
yaad ise tuu kar le\- 2
Dar naa mohabbat kar le\- 2



In The Great Gambler (1979) thirty years later Anand Bakhshi used it as:
do lafzoN kii hai dil kii kahaanii
yaa hai muhabbat yaa hai jawaanii