Siraj Aurangabadi (سراج اورنگ آبادی) (1763-1712), born at Aurangabad Maharashtra, was an Urdu poet who came after Wali Dakhani (वली दक्खनी or ولی دکنی) . His full name was Siraj-ud-Din Aurangabadi. Influenced by famous Persian poets like Hafiz, Siraj gave ghazal a new orchestration of mystical experience. Hence his ghazals have two-dimensional meanings - the mystical and metaphysical at one level, and the secular and physical at another.
Khabar-e-tahayyur-e-ishq is one of the best know ghazals of Siraj. I believe that explaining or paraphrasing a piece of poetry from one language in another is such an arduous task. More so if a poem of an Indian language is to be explained in English. Besides, a ghazal is like a beautiful and fragrant flower, which gives you pleasure but you cannot pass the sublime experience on to another person on a vehicle of words. I am trying this difficult task for the benefit of my friends and, in doing so, am fully aware that my effort is most likely to be inadequate.
The text of the ghazal (in Roman script), followed by a paraphrase and the explanatory notes (as best as I can explain) follow:
Khabar-e-tahayyur-e-ishq sunn, na junoon raha na pari rahi
Na toh tu raha na toh mein raha, jo rahi so be-khabari rahi
On learning the amazing saga of love, neither the frenzy (junoon) was left, nor did the sweetheart (pari) remain. I was ‘me’ no more, you were ‘thee’ no more; only a state of oblivion remained.
This she'r reminds me of the lines from Rumi:
This she'r reminds me of the lines from Rumi:
I always thought that
I was me — but no,I was you
and never knew it.
I was me — but no,I was you
and never knew it.
The consciousness of self is obstructive and it is only the removal of 'knowledge' and 'thought' (Rumi has used the words ‘thought’ and ‘knew’) that leads to the state of self-unconsciousness where the lover and the beloved become one.
Shah-e-bekhudi ne ataa kia, mujhay ab libas-e-barahanagi
Na khirad ki bakhiyagari rahi, na junoon ki pardadari rahi
The gift of the ‘Lord of Ecstasy’ to me was a garb of nakedness. All that the wisdom had stitched was gone; the veil of madness no longer remained.
At the spiritual level the couplet can be interpreted like this: My beloved, the shah-e-bekhudi has ripped naked my heart and soul, ridding them of the layers of stitching by the misguided intellect, which is nothing more than a veil of madness. The extreme of love endows the heart with divine purity. Reason and intellect have been viewed as hindrances, and the perceived sanity as madness.
Chali simt-e-ghaib se aik hava, ke chaman zahoor ka jal gaya
Magar aik shakh-e-nihal-e-gham, jise dil kahe so hari rahi
A sweeping wind, which came from beyond the visible world, consumed the visible garden with fire; just one branch on the tree of grief, which they call heart, despite the blaze retained its green.
The reference here is to the lost Paradise, and the perennial quest to re-unite with it. The Divine breeze would burn the worldly existence leaving behind the hope for reunion. The worldly existence (chaman) has been likened to a tree of sorrow and suffering, and the Divine breeze as the liberator. Nothing grows on that tree except sadness, caused by the separation from his beloved. Now that entire existence is gone, only the abode of the beloved (heart) has survived.
Nazar-e-taghaful-e-yaar ka, gila kis zuban se bayan karoon
Ke sharab-e-sad-qadaah aarzu, khum-e-dil mein thi so bhari rahi
I am speechless to complain about the indifferent and uncaring glances (nazar-e-taghaful-e-yaar) of my beloved; the wine of desire that filled the heart remained suppressed, concealed.
At the temporal level, these lines would simply suggest that there is a heart overflowing with desires which one is unable to express due to the indifferent looks of the beloved. At the metaphysical level it would suggest that the worldly desires are often out of sync with the Divine commandments.
Woh ajab ghari thi mein jis ghari, liya dars nuskha-e-ishq ka
Ke kitab aql ki taaq main, jyun dhari thi tyun hi dhari rahi
It was at a moment strange that I read a book of love; the book of reason, brushed aside, remained shelved and sheathed.
Reason (aql-o-khirad), the product of mind is considered a detriment, hindering the spontaneity of heart. A person guided by logic and reason is too calculative to be able to devote to pure love; whereas selfless love is motivated by heart and not mind. For that reason love and brain are just incompatible. Mind is deceitful, untrustworthy, selfish and devious whereas heart is pure, untainted and selfless. As Iqbal said: bekhatar kuud para aatishe-namrood mein ishq/aql thi mehvi-tamasha-e-lab-baam abhi
Tere josh-e-hairat-e-husn ka, asar iss qadar so yahan hua
Ke na aayine main jila rahi, na pari kuun jalva gari rahi
Your bewitching beauty, love, such a spell did cast; the mirror stood bereft of gloss and beauty seemed to freeze.
Bewildered by your beauty (Josh-e-hairat-e-husn), I had such a mark on my heart (yahan is a pointer towards the heart) that the heart (aayina , the mirror of heart) has lost all its shine (the basic quality of a mirror) and angel (pari is used as simile to refer profound beauty) had no beauty left to reveal (‘kuun’means ko).
Kiya khak aatish-e-ishq ne dil-e-benava-e-Siraj ko
Na khatar raha na hazar raha, magar aik be-khatari rahi
The fire of love reduced to ashes Siraj’s voiceless heart; fears and cares got consumed, intrepid courage held the field.
The fire of love (aatish-e-ishq) has burnt the voiceless heart (dil-e-benava) of Siraj to ashes. The heart is so liberated from fears (be-khatari) that there is no feeling of vulnerability or threat left. (As Iqbal has used the word bekhatar: bekhatar kood para aatish-e-namrood mein ishq).
If you liked the blog and want to read more, here is the link to another blog:
http://kashikeya.blogspot.com/2019/10/aaj-bazar-men-pa-ba-jaulan-chalo.html?m=1
