Post 28: Baat Karni Mujhe Mushkil Kabhi Aise To Na Thee
बात करनी मुझे मुश्किल कभी ऐसी तो न थी
Bahadur Shah Zafar , the last Emperor of India , ruled for 20 years from 1837 to 1857. After 1857, queen Victoria became the Empress of India. He was more of a calligrapher, a musician and an accomplished poet, adept at writing ghazals. He is known as the ‘Tragic Emperor’ since he could do little as an emperor as the empire was limited to the area of city of Delhi. Some of the ghazals that he wrote can truly be classified as classic. This is one of them.
This ghazal was sung by Jagjit Singh, under his own music direction, as part of Diaro Concert classic from early 1970. It has been digitally restored. Notice the youthful voice in its early stages.
Important words:
सब्र ओ क़रार: agreement of patience;माइल:Attracted,bent,infatuated;अक्स-ए-रुख़्सार: Reflection of the cheek;मह-ए-कामिल :full moon; पा-ए-कूबाँ : foot of a construction equipment ;ज़िंदाँ: Prison;आवाज़-ए-सलासिल : rattling sound of chains;तग़ाफ़ुल: Ignore;चश्म-ए-क़ातिल :Eye of the beloved;ख़ू: Habit, tradition;हूर-शमाइल :Excutively beautiful
बात करनी मुझे मुश्किल कभी ऐसी तो न थी
जैसी अब है तिरी महफ़िल कभी ऐसी तो न थी
It was never so difficult to talk to you .
Your congregations were never like this ever!
ले गया छीन के कौन आज तिरा सब्र ओ क़रार
बे-क़रारी तुझे ऐ दिल कभी ऐसी तो न थी
Who has snatched away your patience, endurance ?
My dear heart, you were never so impatient.
उस की आँखों ने ख़ुदा जाने किया क्या जादू
कि तबीअ'त मिरी माइल कभी ऐसी तो न थी
God only knows, what magic has been cast by her eyes!
My temperament was never to be so infatuated, attracted
अक्स-ए-रुख़्सार ने किस के है तुझे चमकाया
ताब तुझ में मह-ए-कामिल कभी ऐसी तो न थी
Who has given you such a brilliance that is reflected in your cheeks?
The full moon never had such energy!
अब की जो राह-ए-मोहब्बत में उठाई तकलीफ़
सख़्त होती हमें मंज़िल कभी ऐसी तो न थी
The difficulties that I faced, this time on way to love,
The destination was never so difficult to achieve!
पा-ए-कूबाँ कोई ज़िंदाँ में नया है मजनूँ
आती आवाज़-ए-सलासिल कभी ऐसी तो न थी
There appears to be a new lover in this prison of love!
The sound of rattling of chains ,that I hear was never like this before!
निगह-ए-यार को अब क्यूँ है तग़ाफ़ुल ऐ दिल
वो तिरे हाल से ग़ाफ़िल कभी ऐसी तो न थी
Oh my heart, the attitude of the lover was never so callous, ignorant of me!
She was never so unaware of my condition!!
चश्म-ए-क़ातिल मिरी दुश्मन थी हमेशा लेकिन
जैसी अब हो गई क़ातिल कभी ऐसी तो न थी
That penetrating eye of the beloved was always my nemesis!
Still it was not so punishing, as it is now!!
क्या सबब तू जो बिगड़ता है 'ज़फ़र' से हर बार
ख़ू तिरी हूर-शमाइल कभी ऐसी तो न थी
What is the reason for you to be angry with Zafar, all the time?
Your nature was traditionally never so devastating!
It is a beautiful ghazal that truly reflects the travails of a lover!
I am presenting the same ghazal sung by Mehdi Hassan , again in his younger days.
The same ghazal has been sung by a younger artist Gayathri Ashokan. She is a well known Malyali singer and composer, who is well trained to sing bhajans and ghazals.
The main aim of this blog is to enhance the pleasure of listening to ghazals and translating especially the difficult words or introducing the theme and concept of the shayar, goes a long way in achieving this aim. listening to same ghazal sung by different artists adds to the pleasure. Enjoy and please let me have your response. It adds to my satisfaction and sense of accomplishing some thing worthwhile.
A pleasant weekend!
16.01.2021
