POST 47: Aaye Kuch Abr, Kuch Sharab Aaye
आए कुछ अब्र कुछ शराब आए
This ghazal had been written by Faiz Ahmed Faiz, a Pakistani poet (1911–1984) which was a departure from his otherwise realistic ghazals wherein he propagated his leftist bent of mind.
He was a leading member of the communist party of Pakistan, and was arrested in 1951 and placed in jail for four years on allegations of being a part of the conspiracy to overthrow the Liquat Hasan regime. He continued to write poetry even in the jail.
His was a multifaceted personality having been a teacher, an army officer, a journalist, a trade union leader and a broadcaster. He served the British Empire in the Indian British Army as a lieutenant Colonel (1942–47) and received the ‘Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE). He also taught English literature in M.A.O College in Amritsar (1936) and Hailey College of Commerce , Lahore (1941). He self exiled himself to Beirut, Lebanon, after Zulfikar Ali Bhutto was ousted, by Zia Ul Haq. During Bhutto tenure , he was an aide to the administration.
Jagjit Singh sang this ghazal in his younger days and produced a masterpiece!
Important words:
अब्र: cloud; अज़ाब: torment, agony,pain;बाम-ए-मीना:top of the wine decanter; माहताब: moon;दस्त-ए-साक़ी: hand of the lady, saqui;आफ़्ताब: the Sun;रग-ए-ख़ूँ:vein carrying blood; चराग़ाँ:lit up by lamps; बे-नक़ाब:without the veil; मेहर-ओ-वफ़ा:gift of love and fidelity:बाब: door also chapter in a book; ग़म-ए-जहाँ: miseries, sorrows of the World; सरदारी: supremacy; बज़्म-ए-ग़ैर:assembly of others, rivals; दर-ओ-बाम: doors and walls and terraces; ख़ानुमाँ-ख़राब:anguished, heart broken; सम्त:direction, angle; सर-ब-सर:appropriate;
आए कुछ अब्र कुछ शराब आए
इस के बाद आए जो अज़ाब आए
Let there be a few clouds , let it become misty and then let there be wine!
After that if misery has to come, let it come!!
(It is almost impossible for an English to understand that appearance of clouds can ever be a source of happiness so there is no equivalent word for घटा!!)
बाम-ए-मीना से माहताब उतरे
दस्त-ए-साक़ी में आफ़्ताब आए
Let the moon descend from the top of the carafe !
Let the hand of the saqui glow like the Sun!!
( What beautiful imagery- what more can one ask for?)
हर रग-ए-ख़ूँ में फिर चराग़ाँ हो
सामने फिर वो बे-नक़ाब आए
Let the vein carrying blood be illuminated with the light of the lamps!
Then let her come before me ,with her face uncovered!!
उम्र के हर वरक़ पे दिल की नज़र
तेरी मेहर-ओ-वफ़ा के बाब आए
The heart is keeping a keen eye on every stage of aging,
Your gift of love and fidelity comes as a new chapter in life!
कर रहा था ग़म-ए-जहाँ का हिसाब
आज तुम याद बे-हिसाब आए
I was taking stock of the miseries and pain in the Worlds!
Today I remembered you and missed you uncontrollably!!
न गई तेरे ग़म की सरदारी
दिल में यूँ रोज़ इंक़लाब आए
I could nor replace the dominant position of pain given by you,
I could not change the feel of the pain, although every day the heart had so many revolutionary ideas!
जल उठे बज़्म-ए-ग़ैर के दर-ओ-बाम
जब भी हम ख़ानुमाँ-ख़राब आए
The assembly of the rivals, their halls,doors walls, terraces were incinerated;
whenever I ,with my broken wretched heart, joined it.
इस तरह अपनी ख़ामुशी गूँजी
गोया हर सम्त से जवाब आए
My silence was heard with a bang!
As though it was being answered from every angle and every direction!!
'फ़ैज़' थी राह सर-ब-सर मंज़िल
हम जहाँ पहुँचे कामयाब आए
Faiz, the path taken by me was the right one, leading to the destination!
Wherever I reached, I reached successfully and that was the destination!!
Mehdi Hassan also sang this ghazal in his earlier years and was able to create the right atmosphere and right milieu.
Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, has sung this ghazal in the quawalli style, which is his trademark!
Runa Laila is so well known in India, many think she is an Indian singer! She is a Bangladeshi playback singer and composer. She was active in Indian film industry from 1977 to 1991. She was born on 17th November 1952.
Trina Chatterjee is an exponent of Hindustani Classical music, besides Rabindra Sangeet and Old Bengali music. She lives in Gurugram. She has been an accredited artist of khayal gayaki for all India Radio. She has a very pleasent voice and brings out the beauty of the ghazal.
Fortunately in early May, there have been lot of Abr ( clouds- घटा) and temperatutre has plummeted — ideal conditions for sharab ! Have a wonderful weekend with lot of abr and sharab!! Enjoy the ghazal by these eminent singers.
29.05.2021
