innaa lillaahe va inna ilaihe raajiuun

To Allah We Belong And To Him We Shall Return

As if the loss of Ahmed Nadeem Qasmi was not big enough for us comes the shocking news of the demise of Munir Niazi. For many admirers, Munir Niazi was up there at the top with the very best. Shamsur Rahman Faruqui, one the most prominent critics of our time places the following nazm of Munir Niazi at a higher pedestal than any nazm of Faiz’s.

aaGhaaz-e-zamistaaN meN dubaara

Ghuruub-e-mehr kaa manzar GhaRii huvii guzraa
bas aik pal ko niyastaaN usii tarah larzaa
giyaah-e-sabz kii Khushbuu usii zamaane kii
usii tarah kii masarrat bahaar aane kii
vuhii jamaal-e-dar-o-saqf-o-baam hai, maiN huuN
kinaar-e-raud-e-siah-faam-e-shaam hai, maiN huuN

Munir Niazi

Translation by Zafar Iqbal Syed.

In the Beginning of Winter Again

The sunset elapsed by a while ago
Just for a moment the reed-jungle trembled alike
The odor of the green-grass of the same times
The same ecstasy for the approaching of spring
The same glory of the doors, rooftops, terraces – and I am
The banks of the grey waters of the evening – and I am

While many would contest that claim, and the point is not to prove someone is better than somebody else, it gives us an idea about the class of Munir Niazi. His nazm hameshaa der kar detaa huuN maiN was the most popular nazm among youngsters at was scribbled at the walls of Karachi University.

I have listened to two Ghazals of Munir Niazi sung by Ghulam Ali. Both are amazing.

How beautifully has he used words like nain, bhed, khoj, diip, dvaar etc. in this Ghazal.

[See post to listen to audio]

un se nain milaakar dekho
ye dhokhaa bhii khaa kar dekho

duurii meN kyaa bhed chhipaa hai
iskii khoj lagaakar dekho

(bhed : secret)

kisii akelii shaam kii chup meN
giit puraane gaakar dekho

aaj kii raat bahut kaalii hai
soch ke diip jalaa kar dekho

jaag-jaag kar umr kaTii hai
niiNd ke dvaar hilaakar dekho

(dvaar : door)

———

And another one.

[See post to listen to audio]

aa gayii yaad sham Dhalte hii
bujh gayaa dil chiraaGh jalte hii

(Compare this sher with Mir’s “shaam se hii bujhaa saa rahtaa hai, dil hu’aa hai chiraaGh muflis kaa”)

khul gaye shahr-e-Gham ke darvaaze
ek zaraa sii havaa ke chalte hii

(shahr-e-Gham : city of sufferings)

kaun thaa tuu ke phir na dekhaa tujhe
miT gayaa Khvaab aaNkh malte hii

tuu bhii jaise badal saa jaataa hai
aks-e-diivaar ke badalte hii

(aks-e-diivaar : reflection of the wall)

———

As he himself wrote:

ko’ii kyaa rahegaa jahaaN-e-fanaa meN
raho to raho jaavidaaN mere dil meN

(jahaaN-e-fanaa : the mortal world; jaavidaaN : eternal)

Indeed Munir saahab!

Read more of Munir Niazi’s poetry here and here. Listen him here and here.

It was in my mind till very recently but then I forgot. 19th Aug 2006 was the thirteeth death anniversary of Jan Nisar Akhtar, an accomplished lyricist and poet. He was also the father of Javed Akhtar, husband of Safiya Akhtar (and therefore the brother-in-law of Majaz Lucknawi) and an Aligarian. His own father, Muztar Khairabadi was a well known poet and actually composed the Ghazal, ‘na kisii kii aaNkh kaa nuur huuN’ (yes, it was him and NOT Bahadur Shah Zafar). Not many websites remembered Jan Nisar, nor blogs wrote about him. On searching I found this news item at Rediff.com that talks about the release of a book of edited by Jan Nisar and released by his son.

Jan Nisar wrote some beautiful Ghazals and composed some really good couplets:

ab ye bhii nahiiN thiik ke har dard miTaa deN
kuch dard kaleje se lagaane ke liye haiN

jaaiye baiThiye hukmraanoN ke biich
aap kyuuN aa gaye ham divaanoN ke biich

chand vahmoN pe na rakh fikr-o-amal ki buniyaad
sirf buniyaad se ta’amiir badal jaatii hai

zindagii ye to nahiiN tujhko saNvaaraa hii na ho
kuch na kuch teraa ehsaan utaaraa hii na ho

tuu is qadar mujhe apne qariib lagtaa hai
tujhe alag se jo sochuuN, ajiib lagtaa hai

He also some wrote fine poems and the one written on a visit to his wife’s grave is a classic.

I would be posting some Ghazals and Nazms of Jan Nisar Akhtar at Aligarians.com in the days to come. You can read them at this link.

P.S. First blog post written with Windows Live Writer.

ai Khudaa ab tere firdaus pe meraa haq hai
tuune is daur ke dozaKh meN jalaayaa hai mujhe

O God! Now, I have a right on your paradise
You have scorched me in the hell, that is this era

Ahmed Nadeem Qasmi (1916 – 2006)

After rightfully staking his claim on paradise and stamping his authority on the world of Urdu literature, Ahmed Nadeem Qasmi passed away on 10th July in Lahore at a ripe age of 90. He was one of the last surviving doyens of progressive writers movement that included Majaz, Faiz, Makhdoom, Jazbi, Jafri among others. Majaz left us early in 1955 and Faiz, even though died in 1982, continue to inspire us. Ahmed Nadeem Qasmi was a versatile personality with contributions to Urdu poetry, journalism, short story writing and literary criticism. Apart from his own writings, he mentored an entire generation of young writers through his literary journal, Fanoon. Parveen Shakir considered him her teacher and used to call him Ammu. The last 7-8 years have been particularly severe for Urdu poetry lovers with Ali Sardar Jafri, Moin Ahsan Jazbi, Majrooh Sultanpuri, Khumar Barabankvi, Jaun Elia and now Ahmed Nadeem Qasmi, all leaving us one by one.

One of the poetry anthologies I am reading these days considers him senior to even Faiz. One of the reasons he is not so well known in India is that he has not been sung much by Ghazal singers like Ahmed Faraz and Nasir Kazmi have been. Also, mushaira audience in India did not get enough chance to hear him in person. Thanks to internet, more people worldwide would get a chance to explore his poetry. Here is a collection of my favourite couplets of Ahmed Nadeem Qasmi:

maiN tujh ko bhuul chukaa thaa lekin ek umr ke baad
teraa Khayaal kyaa thaa ke choT ubhar aayii
—–

talaash-e-husn kahaaN le chalii Khudaa jaane
umang thii ke faqat zindagii ko apnaayeN

(talaash-e-husn : search for beauty; faqat : only)
—–

sar-e-baazaar hai yaaroN kii talaash
jo guzartaa hai Khafaa lagtaa hai

(sar-e-baazaar : in public)
—–

ab to visaal-e-yaar se behtar hai yaad-e-yaar
maiN bhii kabhii fareb-e-nazar kaa shikaar thaa

(visaal-e-yaar : meeting with beloved; fareb : deceit; nazar : sight)
—–

ab aik baar to qudrat javaabdeh Thehre
hazaar baar ham insaan aazmaaye gaye

(qudrat : nature, creator; javaabdeh : answerable)
——

vo aur chiiz hai hote haiN jis se dil shaadaab
nirii bahaar se viraanii-e-KhizaaN na gayii

(shaadaab : fresh; bahaar : spring; viraanii-e-KhizaaN : loneliness of autumn)
—–

In the following two couplets, he beautifully weaves the Islamic legends with his thoughts and creates amazing couplets. It is believed that Adam was exiled from the paradise after he ate the fruit of the prohibited tree. Qasmi saahab has used that legend in the couplet.

nikal se Khuld se bhii aadmii na pachtaayaa
zamiiN pe bhii chaman-aaraa’ii-e-gumaaN na gayii

(Khuld : paradise; chaman-aaraa’ii : creating a garden; gumaaN : hope)

Also, it is Islamic belief that on the day of judgement, the Sun would be at a very close distance to earth. Now, read the following couplet and enjoy!

jab bhii aaNkhoN meN terii ruKhsat ka manzar aa gayaa
aaftaab-e-vaqt neze ke baraabar aaya

(ruKhsat : parting; manzar : vision; aaftaab-e-vaqt : Sun of that time; neze ke baraabar : very close)
—–

Qasmi saahab was also a poet of Nazms and has blessed us with some gems. I hope to post some of his Nazms at Aligarians.com in the days to come but sample the closing lines of his nazm, izhaar.

apne badle mirii tasviir nazar aa jaatii
tuune us vaqt agar aaiinaa dekhaa hotaa

hauslaa tujh ko na thaa mujh se judaa hone kaa
varnaa kaajal tirii aaNkhoN meN na phailaa hotaa

Some of his Ghazals have been put to music and I absolutely love this rendition by Nayyara Noor of his famous Ghazal:

andaaz huu-ba-huu terii aavaaz-e-paa kaa thaa
dekhaa nikal ke ghar se to jhoNkaa havaa kaa thaa

(andaaz : style; huu-ba-huu : exactly similar; aavaaz-e-paa : sound of feet)

Click here to listen:
[See post to listen to audio]

Ghulam Ali has also sung some of Qasmi saahab’s Ghazals, seemingly earlier in his career because the Ghazals are not well-known.

1.) shaam ko sub’h-e-chaman yaad aa’ii
[See post to listen to audio]

2.) vo ko’ii aur na thaa chand Khushk patte the
[See post to listen to audio]

3.) mujhse kaafir ko tere ishq ne yuuN sharmaayaa
[See post to listen to audio]

But perhaps his most popular Ghazal is ‘kisko qaatil maiN kahuuN, kisko masiihaa samajhuuN‘, from the album Sajda of Jagjit Singh and Lata Mangeshkar.

[See post to listen to audio]

I especially like this particular couplet:

zulm ye hai ke hai yaqtaa terii begaanaaravii
lutf ye hai ke maiN ab tak tujhe apnaa samajhuuN

(zulm : injustice; begaanaaravii : indifference; lutf : pleasure)
—–

Most of the obituaries on the Blogosphere have quoted this immortal couplet of Ahmed Nadeem Qasmi,

kaun kahtaa hai ke maut aa’ii to mar jaauuNgaa
maiN to dariyaa huuN samandar meN utar jaauuNgaa

but I would like to mention another beautiful couplet:

maruuN to maiN kisii chehre meN rang bhar jaauuN
“Nadeem” kaash yahii ek kaam kar jaauuN

Indeed, Qasmi saahab. May your soul rest in peace!

I first read Renu Ahuja when she posted an eulogy to Meena Kumari at one of her poems. She is one of the few (but gradually increasing) Indian bloggers who write in vernacular languages, in this case Hindi in Devanagari script. Her poems are simple and touching.

Sample a part of the eulogy to Meena Kumari I mentioned above,

जब जब ज़माने की
सर्द हवाओं ने सिहराया होगा
शायद वही दर्द
कभी शेर, कभी गज़ल,
तो कभी अदा बन कर
पर्दे पर उतर आया होगा

तुम न सही
तुमहारी याद ही सही
तुम न सही
तुम्हारा ख्याल ही सही
तुम न सही
तुमहारे जज़बात ही सही
दौर-ए-द्र्द में
इन्होंनें कितनों को
क्या क्या याद दिलाया होगा…!!!

and her latest poem titled baseraa (shelter),

पर्वतों की गोद में
हो पेड़ों की झुरमुट एक.
बहती नदी संग में
और चहकती बुलबुल एक

प्रकृति अपनी, हम उसके
काक गान जहां गीत लगे
सुबह का सूरज हो सुनहला
मीठी शांति साथ रहे

धरती अम्बर हों साथ वहां
बहती नदिया का गीत सुने
गगन के तारे झुके जहां
अनबोला संगीत झरे

प्रकृति की एसी बाहों मे
रुपहला एक बसेरा हो
सूरज की पहली किरणों से
उस घर में नित सवेरा हो

धरती, अंबर ,चांद ,अरूण
लगें हमजोली और हमदम
तेरा हो या मेरा हो
सुंदर एक बसेरा हो!!!
-रेणु

I hope to rekindle my short-lived-love-affair with Hindi poetry in near future. I especially wish to read Mahadevi Varma whose Sufi tinted poems amazed me during Hindi classes of Senior Secondary School. And yes, here is Renu Ahuja’s blog once again.

P.S. Strangely, the Devanagari script is not rendering well in Firefox but is doing fine in IE. Strange, indeed.