Saturday 11 July 2009

rasm-e-ulfat kisii suurat se nibhaaye na bane

The following Ghazal of Mirza Ghalib's is wildly popular and has been sung by many singers --

nuktacheeN hai, Gham-e-dil usko sunaaye na bane
kyaa bane baat jahaaN baat banaaye na bane

maiN bulaataa to hooN usko magar ay jazba-e-dil
us pe ban jaaye kuchh aisi ke bin aaye na bane
... ... ... ...
'ishq par zor naheeN hai yeh woh aatish 'Ghalib'
ke lagaaye na lage aur bujhaaye na bane

Jigar Moradabadi also has a Ghazal that follows the same metric structure (a.k.a behr), but has a slightly different rhyming pattern (a.k.a radeef-qaafiya). This Ghazal has been sung, among others, by Jagjit Singh. The matl'a of this Ghazal is --

daastaan-e-Gham-e-dil unko sunaayi na gayi
baat big.Di thi kuchh aisi ke banaayi na gayi
... ... ...
'ishq par kuchh na chalaa deeda-e-tar kaa jaaduu
is ne woh aag lagaayi ke bujhaayi na gayi

Lyricists Shams Lucknowi and Anjum Pilibhiti appear to have married the second line of Jigar's matl'a with Ghalib's radeef-qaafiya pattern and come up with the words of this lovely Shamshad Begum song from the film Humayun (1945), tuned by the master tunesmith Ghulam Haider.

rasm-e-ulfat kisi soorat se nibhaaye na bane
baat kuchh big.Di hai aisi ke banaaye na bane

husn majboor idhar 'ishq pareeshaan udhar
aisaa kuchh uljhaa hai daaman ke chhu.Daaye na bane

meraa ghar jal gayaa majboor haiN dunyaa waale
hai yeh woh aag jo paani se bujhaaye na bane

kyaa karooN, kyaa na karooN, donoN tarah mushkil hai
aap jaaye na bane, unko bulaaye na bane

Observe how Shams and Anjum have used Ghalib's "bulaana aur na jaanaa" imagery in the final couplet. Note also the familiar metaphor of "aag lagnaa aur bujhaa na paanaa" that is used in all three Ghazals.




As a bonus, here's a rendition of the Jigar Moradabadi Ghazal by an unknown artiste we found on YouTube. The lad had a very pleasant voice, whoever he is. If you know his name, be sure and let us know, please!

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