Ham ki maGaluub-e-gumaa.N the pahale Ghazal

Ham ki maGaluub-e-gumaa.N the pahale

ham ki maghaloob-e-gumaa the pahale
phir vahee hai kee jahaa the pahale
 
[maghaluub-e-gumaa = defeated by suspicion/doubt]
 
Khvaahisheau jhurriyaa ban kar ubharee
zakhum seeney meh nihaa the pahale
 
[jhurriyaa = wrinkles; nihaa = hidden]
 
ab to har baath pe ro detey hai
vaaquif-e-sood-o-ziyaa the pahale
 
[vaaquif-e-sood-o-ziyaa = aware of profit and loss]
 
dil se jaise koee kaantaa nikalaa
ashk aankau se ravaa the pahale
 
ab faquat anjuman-aaraay hai
aitabaar-e-dil-o-jaa the pahale
 
[faquat = merely; anjuman = gathering (place)]
[aaraay = decoration]
[aitabaar-e-dil-o-jaa = those who had complete faith]
 
dosh pe sar hai ki hai barf jamee
ham to sholau kee zubaa the pahale
 
[dosh = shoulder]
 
meree hamzaad hai tanhaa-ee meree
aise rishte bhee kahaa the pahale
 
[hamzaad = born at the same time]
 

Ghazal

Suspicion consumed me
As it does to this day
 
Lined by desire
I hid the wounds in my heart
 
You make it all end in tears
Values are abandoned
 
As if a thorn were pulled out of my heart
Tears spill from my eyes
 
Lights still burn but the place is deserted
Once faith was unshakeable
 
A head of snow at my shoulder
Once we were a tongue of flame
 
Loneliness is my twin
Were there ever such twins before?
 

A ghazal is a collection of couplets (shers or ashaar) which follow strict rules, for example: every ghazal must have a matla. A matla is the first sher of a ghazal, and both lines of the sher must end in the radeef, the word or phrase that is repeated at the end of the second line in every couplet.

Ghazal

We were subdued by suspiscion first
They are there again where they were first
 
My desires surfaced as wrinkles
Wounds were hidden in my chest first
 
Now (you) make me cry over every thing (talk)
Aware of the profit and loss before
 
As if a thorn has come out of (my) heart
Tears flowed from (my) eyes before
 
Now merely the gathering place is decorated
Those who had complete faith at first
 
A head made of snow on (my?) shoulder
We were a tongue of flame before
 
My twin is my loneliness (Loneliness is my twin)
Where were relations like this before?
 

Original Poem by

Kishwar Naheed

Translated by

Nuzhat Jabinh with The Poetry Translation Workshop Language

Urdu

Country

Pakistan