Francesca Chubb-Confer |  fchubbconfer@uchicago.edu
Iqbāl ghazals from Payām-i Mashriq (1923)

To see the original format of the translations, see this pdf:
https://uchicago.box.com/s/q6u5vxvwl2ij1ntp54m0wh1nsnptq98t.

Persian text of ghazal #16: https://ganjoor.net/iqbal/payam-mashregh/sh231/

 

دانهٔ سبحه به زنار کشیدن آموز
گر نگاه تو دو بین است ندیدن آموز

پا ز خلوت کدهٔ غنچه برون زن چو شمیم
با نسیم سحر آمیز و وزیدن آموز

آفریدند اگر شبنم بی مایه ترا
خیز و بر داغ دل لاله چکیدن آموز

اگرت خار گل تازه رسی ساخته اند
پاس ناموس چمن دار و خلیدن آموز

باغبان گر ز خیابان تو بر کند ترا
صفت سبزه دگر باره دمیدن آموز

تا تو سوزنده تر و تلخ تر آئی بیرون
عزلت خم کده ئی گیر و رسیدن آموز

تا کجا در ته بال دگران می باشی
در هوای چمن آزاده پریدن آموز

در بتخانه زدم مغبچگانم گفتند
آتشی در حرم افروز و تپیدن آموز

 

“Learn”
(ghazal #16, radif: āmūz)

Learn to string a prayer bead
on a sacred thread.
If your sight’s two-seeing,
learn to unsee.

Set foot outside the bud’s
seclusion. As perfume,
diffuse into the dawning breeze
and learn to breathe.

If you were created
worthless dew, rise –
and on the tulip’s scarred heart
learn to drop.

If you were formed
a fresh-blooming rose’s thorn,
protect the garden’s honor:
learn to prick.

If the gardener uproots
you from your flower bed,
verdantly, once more, verdantly,
learn to blossom.

So that you come out
burning more, bitter still,
withdraw into the cask
and learn to age.

How far will you remain
enfolded in others’ wings?
In the air of the garden
learn to fly free.

I knocked on the door of the tavern.
The young Magi said to me:
light a fire in the sanctuary,
learn to flare hot.

Persian text of ghazal #3 (from: https://ganjoor.net/iqbal/payam-mashregh/sh218/)

می تراشد فکر ما هر دم خداوندی دگر
رست از یک بند تا افتاد در بندی دگر

بر سر بام آ  نقاب از چهره بیباکانه کش
یست در کوی تو چون من آرزومندی دگر

بسکه غیرت میبرم از دیدهٔ بینای خویش
از نگه بافم به رخسار تو رو بندی دگر

یک نگه یک خندهٔ دزدیده یک تابنده اشک
بهر پیمان محبت نیست سوگندی دگر

عشق را نازم که از بیتابی روز فراق
جان ما را بست با درد تو پیوندی دگر

تا شوی بیباک تر در ناله ای مرغ بهار
آتشی گیر از حریم سینه ام چندی دگر

چنگ تیموری شکست آهنگ تیموری بجاست
سر برون می آرد از ساز سمرقندی دگر

ره مده در کعبه ای پیر حرم اقبال را
هر زمان در آستین دارد خداوندی دگر

“A/new”
(ghazal #3, radīf: digar)

At every beat our thinking hews
new gods: freed from one knot,
we loop ourselves
into another.

Come out on the roof.
Drop that veil, daring,
from your face—

for in your alley
there’s no one
wanting more than me.

Jealous of my own seeing eye,
I weave my gaze
over your cheek.

One glance, one
wry smile, one
lucent tear:

there is no other oath in any measure of love.

I take pride in my passion.
From a restless ligature
on the day of separation,
it bound my life to your pain again.

So that you sing
more brazenly—oh springtime bird—seize
some fire from the sanctum of my chest.

The Timurid harp is broken.
Its harmony resounds
from another Samarqandi string.

Oh keeper of the sanctuary!
Don’t let Iqbal in to the Ka’ba:
he always has some new gods up his sleeve.

 

Persian text of ghazal #5 (from: https://ganjoor.net/iqbal/payam-mashregh/sh220/)

به این بهانه درین بزم محرمی جویم
غزل سرایم و پیغام آشنا گویم

بخلوتی که سخن می شود حجاب آنجا
حدیث دل به زبان نگاه می گویم

پی نظارهٔ روی تو می کنم پاکش
نگاه شوق به جوی سرشک می شویم

چو غنچه گرچه به کارم گره زنند ولی
ز شوق جلوه گه آفتاب می رویم

چو موج ساز وجودم ز سیل بی پرواست
گمان مبر که درین بحر ساحلی جویم

میانه من و او ربط دیده و نظر است
که در نهایت دوری همیشه با اویم

کشید نقش جهانی به پردهٔ چشمم
ز دست شعبده بازی اسیر جادویم

درون گنبد در بسته اش نگنجیدم
من آسمان کهن را چو خار پهلویم

به آشیان ننشینم ز لذت پرواز
گهی به شاخ گلم گاه بر لب جویم

“Pretext”
(ghazal #5, radīf: mī __ū-yam)

This is my pretext
for finding someone here who understands:
singing ghazals, encoding lovers’ secrets.

In that strange solitude
where speech becomes a veil,
I tell the heart’s tale with a sidelong glance.

To purify my seeing you,
I immerse my longing sight
in a stream of tears.

Even if all my doings
are knotted tight as a bud,
I swell from yearning for the glowing sun.

My being is a wave
of ceaseless floodwaters:
don’t suspect that in this sea I seek the shore.

Between him and me
is what binds sight to the eye.
At the edge of all distance I’m always with him.

He traced a world
on the film of my eye;
I’m a prisoner to the illusionist’s hand.

The closed doors of this dome
cannot contain me: I rankle
like a thorn in the side of the ancient sky.

Now that I have a taste for flying,
I don’t sit in my nest. Instead,
a spring branch, sometimes, the lip of a stream.

 

Persian text of ghazal #11: https://ganjoor.net/iqbal/payam-mashregh/sh226/

از ما بگو سلامی آن ترک تند خو را
کاتش زد از نگاهی یک شهر آرزو را

این نکته را شناسد آندل که دردمند است
من گرچه توبه گفتم نشکسته ام سبو را

ای بلبل از وفایش صد بار با تو گفتم
تو در کنار گیری باز این رمیده بو را

رمز حیات جوئی جز در تپش نیابی
در قلزم آرمیدن ننگ است آب جو را

شادم که عاشقان را سوز دوام دادی
درمان نیافریدی آزار جستجو را

گفتی مجو وصالم بالا تر از خیالم
عذر نو آفریدی اشک بهانه جو را

از ناله بر گلستان آشوب محشر آور
تا دم به سینه پیچد مگذار های و هو را

“Toward”
(ghazal #11, radif: -ū rā)

To that fiery Turk
send my salaam,
whose glance struck flame
to a city of desire.

This point will be discerned
by pain-acquainted hearts.
I said my penance—but never
smashed the wineglass.

Oh, nightingale:
I’ve told you a hundred times
about the rose’s faithfulness,
but you hold close again
that ghostly scent.

The secret of life is in the seeking.
You won’t find it
except in quickening;
the stream’s disgrace is to rest in the sea.

I’m glad you gifted lovers
immortal burning,
and created no cure
for the torment of the seeking.

You said: don’t try for union with me,
I outpace imagination.
You brought about a new excuse
for streaming tears.

Bring resurrection’s upheaval
to the garden.
Don’t calm your cries
until the breath is twisted up inside.

— F. Chubb-Confer

Our first poem for today comes from the Rasikapriyā (1591) of Keshavdas, the founder of literary theory in Hindi. It describes the love play of Radha and Krishna as an example of the erotic sentiment when lovers meet in secret:

अथ प्रच्छन्न संयोग शृंगार
सवैया

बन में बृषभानु कुमारि मुरारि रमें रुचि सों रस रूप पियें ।
कल कूजत पूजत काम कला बिपरीत रची रति केलि कियें ।
मनि सोभित स्याम जराइ जरी अति चौकी चलै चल चारु हियें ।
मखतूल के झूल झुलावत केसव भानु मनों सनि अंक लियें ।।२०।।

atha pracchanna saṁyoga śr̥ṅgāra
savaiyā¹

bana maiṁ br̥ṣabhānu kumāri murāri ramaiṁ soṁ rasa rupa piyeṁ
kala kūjata pūjata kāma kalā biparīta racī rati kelī kiyeṁ
mani sobhita² syāma jarāï jarī ati caukī calai cāru hiyeṁ
makhatūla ke jhūla jhulāvata³ kesava bhānu manoṁ sani aṅka liyeṁ

Now, the erotic sentiment in union, when in secret:
(In the savaiya meter.)

In the forest, Brishbhanu’s young daughter and Murari
immerse themselves in pleasure and imbibe the juice of beauty.

Cooing gently, they perform worship to the arts of Love (Kama)
and fashion Passion (Rati) upside-down as they play love-games.

Shyam, radiant with jewels, is set alight
as his square pendant moves quickly on his handsome chest.

Oh Keshav, they swing back and forth in a swing of black silk,
as if the sun had taken Saturn into his lap.

Reading taken from the Keśavadās Granthāvalī edited by Vishvanathprasad Mishra (Allahabad: Hindustani Academy, 1954).

1Erroneously labeled as kavitt meter in Metropolitan Museum of Art 18.85.5b.

2Reading from Metropolitan Museum of Art 18.85.5b: sohati.

3Reading from Metropolitan Museum of Art 18.85.5b: jhūlāṁ jhulāvatu.

 

The second poem comes from the Padmāvat (1554) of Malik Muhammad Jayasi. It describes the love-making of Ratansen and Padmavati (Padmini) after they have finally been married:

कडवक ३१८

कहौं जूझि जस रावन रामा । सेज बिधंसि बिरह संग्रामा ।
लीन्ह लंक कंचन गढ़ टूटा । कीन्ह सिंगार अहा सब लूटा ।
औ जोबन मैमंत बिधंसा । बिचला बिरह जीव लै नंसा ।
लूटे अंग अंग सब भेसा । छूटी मंग भंग भे केसा ।
कंचुकि चूर चूर भै ताने । टूटे हार मोंति छहराने ।
बारी टाड सलोनी टूटीं । बांहू कंगन कलाईं फूटी ।
चंदन अंग छूट तस भेंटी । बेसरि टूटि तिलक गा मेंटी ।
पुहुप सिंगार संवारि जौ जोबन नवल बसंत ।
अरगज जेउँ हिय लाइ कै मरगज कीन्हें कंत ।।

I say— they fought like Ram and Ravan!

The bed was destroyed in the battle against viraha!

Lanka was taken and the golden fort fell.

All the adornment and makeup was looted!

The pride of youth was razed

And the viraha that had stood between them gave up its life.

Clothing was plundered from every limb,

Hairs escaped from their partings and scattered.

Bodice threads were crushed to atoms,

Necklaces broke and pearls were scattered.

Beautiful bracelets and armbands broke,

And bangles exploded off of wrists!

Sandalwood paste was rubbed right off of limbs,

And tilaks were wiped away.

The flower of eros that has been nurtured by the spring of youth,

Was ground by pleasure into a perfume that scented the heart.

From the Jāyasī Granthāvalī edited by Mataprasad Gupta (Allahabad: Hindustani Academy,  2011; originally 1951).

For the first meeting of the quarter, we will read a sequence of poems from the Kṣaṇadāgītacintāmaṇi that illustrates the awakening of love and physical self-awareness.

Word version: https://uchicago.box.com/s/3r75ybz3n1fqohg51qsyo2do4eo1ppkv

(৫)

তিরোথা ধানশী (বয়ঃসন্ধি)[1]

1. শৈশব যৌবন দরশন ভেল।
   দোহু দল-বলে ধনি দ্বন্দ্ব পড়ি গেল॥[2]
2. কবহুঁ বান্ধয়ে কচ কবহুঁ বিথার।[3]
   কবহুঁ ঝাঁপয়ে অঙ্গ কবহুঁ উঘার॥[4]
3. থির নয়ন অথির কছু ভেলা।[5]
   উরজ-উদয়-থল লালিম দেলা॥[6]
4. শশীমুখী ছোড়ল শৈশব দেহে।
   খত দেই তেজল ত্রিবলী তিন রেহে॥[7]
5. অব যৌবন ভেল বঙ্কিম-দিঠ।
   উপজল লাজ হাস ভেল মিঠ॥
6. চরণ চঞ্চল চিত চঞ্চল ভাণ।
   জাগল মনসিজ মুদিত-নয়ান॥
7. বিদ্যাপতি কহে কর অবধান।[8]
   বালা-অঙ্গে লাগল পাঁচবাণ ॥[9] ৫

 

1. śaiśava yauvana daraśana bhēla |
   dohu dala-bale dhani dvandva paṛi gela ||
2. kabahũ bāndhaẏe kaca kabahũ bithāra |
   kabahũ jhā̃paẏe aṅga kabahũ ughāra ||
3. thira naẏana athira kachu bhēlā̆ |
   uraja-udaẏa-thala lālima dēlā̆ ||
4. śaśī̆mukhī̆ chōṛala śaiśava dēhe |
   khata dei tejala tribalī tina rēhe ||
5. aba yauvana bhēla baṅkima-díṭha |
   upajala lāja hāsa bhela míṭha ||
6. caraṇa cañcala cita cañcala bhēla |
   jāgala manasija mudita naẏāna ||
7. vidyāpati kahe kara avadhāna |
   bālā aṅgē lāgala pā̃cabāṇa || 5

Meter: 15 mātrās (4/4/4/3); except for 1b and 2, which are in syllabic paẏār.

See also the translation of the version given in the Padakalpataru in Edward C. Dimock and Roushan Jahan, trans. Bengali Vaiṣṇava Lyrics: A Reader for Advanced Students, 3rd ed. (Chicago: South Asian Languages Research Program, University of Chicago, 2006), 42. You will see that the translators made very different choices when interpreting the text.

Commentary in Rādhāmohan Ṭhākur’s Padāmr̥tasamudra, song no. 91:

tato’py utkaṇṭhavantaṃ śrīkr̥ṣṇaṃ paśyantī spaṣṭa-yuddhollekhena punas tulya-balatvena varṇayantī paścānmilanāśvāsa-vacanaṃ “śaiśava yauvana daraśana bhela”-ityādinā āha | asmin gīte’pi “jāgala manasija”-ity atra tasyā hr̥di jāgradavastho’pi madano mudrita-nayana āsīd ity arthe tasya dr̥ṣṭy-abhāvena bodhitā | tat-kārya-yogyatvena bālyasyātiprābalyaṃ vyañjitam | 91 |

Then, when seeing Kr̥ṣṇa longing [for Rādhā, the messenger] is describing [her] by mentioning the visible war [that takes place in her body] and the confrontation of both camps (i.e. childhood and youth). She says words that appease him and announce their future meeting: “Childhood and youth confronted each other…” Moreover, in this song the line “Love awoke…” [means] that in her heart intoxicating Love is awake but still has his eyes closed; this points to the fact that she learned about love without even seeing [her lover]. This appropriate behavior [for a young girl] suggests that childhood is still predominant. 91

1. Childhood and youth confronted each other,
   between both camps she felt confused.
2. She ties her hair, then lets it loose.
   She draws her veil, then lets it down.
3. Her still gaze turned a bit restless,
   her dawning breasts a little red.
4. Childhood who left the limbs of the moon-faced
   when fleeing wounded her:
   the three folds on her belly.
5. Now a maiden, her glance is playful;
   shyness arose and sweetened her smile.
6. Her restless feet bespeak a restless heart.
   Love awoke but still his eyes are closed.
7. Vidyāpati says, take heed,
   five-arrowed Love struck the girl’s body. 5

(৬)

বড়ারি রাগ (বয়ঃসন্ধি)

1. খনে খনে নয়ন-কোণে অনুসরই।
   খনে খনে বসন ধূলি ভরে ভরই॥
2. খনে খনে দশনকো ছটছটি হাস।
   খনে খনে অধর আগে গহে বাস॥
3. বালা শৈশব তারুণ ভেট।
   লখই না পারই জেঠ কনেঠ॥
4. হৃদয় মুকূলিত হেরি থোরি থোরি।
   খনে আঁচর দেই খনে ভই ভোরি॥
5. চঙকি চলয়ে খনে খনে চলু মন্দ।
   মনমথ-পাঠকো করি অনুবন্ধ॥
6. বিদ্যাপতি কহ শুন বর কান।
   তরুণিম শৈশব চিহ্নই না জান॥ ৬

 

1. khane khane naẏana-koṇe anusaraï |
   khane khane vasana dhūli bhare bharaï ||
2. khane khane daśanako chaṭachaṭi hāsa |
   khane khane adhara āge gahe vāsa ||
3. bālā śaiśava tāruṇa bhēṭa |
   lakhaï nā̆ pāraï jēṭha kanēṭha ||
4. hr̥daẏa mukūlita hēri thori thōri |
   khane ā̃cara dei khanē bhaï bhōri ||
5. caṅaki calaẏe khane khane calu manda |
   manamatha-pāṭhako kari anubandha ||
6. vidyāpati kaha śuna vara kāna |
   taruṇima śaiśava cinhaï nā jāna || 6

Meter: Couplets 1 and 2 are syllabic pāẏars (2b is one foot short). The rest follows the 15 mātrā pattern.

Commentary in Rādhāmohan Ṭhākur’s Padāmr̥tasamudra, song no. 90:

tataḥ śrīkr̥ṣṇasya vākyaṃ śrutvā—nāma-śravaṇa-mātreṇaitādr̥śī daśā bhūtā, vayaḥ-sarvāṅga-saundaryādivarṇane na jāne kiṃ bhaviṣyati!—evaṃ kīdr̥śī votkaṇṭhā, kīdr̥g vā buddhi-kauśalaṃ—ta[ṃ] niṣṭaṅkayāmīti manasi kr̥tvā śrīmatyāḥ saundaryādikaṃ saṃgopya tāruṇya-śaiśavayos tulya-balatvena vyaṅgyena yuddha-rūpeṇa tad-agre sakhī “khene khene naẏana-koṇa anusaraï”-ityādinā vayaḥsandhiṃ varṇayati |
prathamato nayana-koṇa-cāñcalyena tāruṇya-balaṃ vyaktam | tato dhūli-dhūsarāṅgatvena śaiśava-balasyaurjityam | dvitīya-caraṇasya prathamato’ṭṭa-hāsādinā bālyasya prābalyaṃ, parārdhe vastreṇa mukhāvaraṇena kaiśorasya prābalyam | tr̥tīya-caraṇa etad-rūpam | caturtha-caraṇe prathamatas tāruṇya-balaṃ tato bālasyātiprābalyam | atrāyam bhāvaḥ | ubhayos tulya-bala-kathane’pi vāk-kauśalena bālya-balasyādhikyaṃ sūcitaṃ—bālyoktyā gīta-viśrānteḥ || 90 ||

Then, after hearing Kr̥ṣṇa’s speech, she thought: “He is in such a state simply after hearing her name, who knows how he will react to the description of the beauty of her young body! I will reveal how much she longs for him and tries to find stratagems to obtain him.” The companion first conceals her (i.e. Rādhā’s) charms and through the suggestive confrontation of youth and childhood presented as a war, she describes the transition between two ages (vayaḥsandhi): “Sometimes she throws side glances…”
First she manifests the power of youth with the restlessness of her gaze. Then, [she suggests] the strength of childhood with her body covered with dust. In the second couplet, it is first the predominance of childhood through her loud laughter, and in the second half it is the predominance of youth with the covering of her face with her garment. It is the same in the third couplet. In the fourth couplet [we observe] first the power of youth and then of childhood. Such is the mood [of the song]. Even if she mentions the comparable strength of both, using verbal cleverness she points to the relative superiority of childhood because the song ends with a reference to this latter state. 90

1. Sometimes she throws side glances,
   sometimes she covers her garment with dust.
2. Sometimes her teeth shine in a beaming smile,
   sometimes she pulls her hem over her lips.
3. The girl’s childhood and youth met;
   one cannot tell which prevails.
4. She glimpses at her blossoming breasts,
   sometimes she pulls her hem, sometimes she is careless.
5. Sometimes she rushes her gait, and then walks slowly
   following Love’s first lesson.
6. Vidyāpati says: “Listen, excellent Kr̥ṣṇa,
   one cannot tell youth from childhood.”

(৭)

তথারাগ (দূতীর শিক্ষা)

1. দূতী সেয়ানী করহ সোই ঠাট।
   পণ্ডিত হাম পড়াওব পাঠ॥
2. চেতন মঝু ঝষ-কেতন-তন্ত্র।
   অবগাহি লেঙ শিখঙ রস-মন্ত্র॥
3. আপন তন কাঞ্চন হামে দেই।
   যতনহিঁ প্রেম-রতন ভরি লেই॥
4. বিদ্যাবল্লভ ইহ আজীব।
   ইহ বিনু দোঁহুকো জীউ না জীব॥ ৭

 

1. dūtī̆ seẏānī̆ karaha soi ṭhāṭa |
   paṇḍita hāma paṛāoba pāṭha ||
2. cetana majhu jhaṣa-ketana-tantra |
   avagāhi leṅ śikhaṅ rasa-mantra ||
3. āpana tana kāñcana hāme dēi |
   yatanahĩ prēma-ratana bhari lēi ||
4. vidyāvallabha iha ājīva |
   iha binu dõhuko jīu nā̆ jīva || 7

Meter: 15 mātrās.

1. Clever messenger, work things out
   so a master like me may teach her a lesson.
2. My heart follows the ways of the fish-bannered god:
   I dive in and learn the mantra of pleasure.
3. I will give away the gold of my limbs
   and strive to get my fill of love’s gems.
4. Vidyāvallabh, it should always remain [so];
   without it, these two couldn’t live.

[1] বাঙ্গালরাগ-কন্দর্পতালৌ (সমুদ্র)
[2] ধ্রু (সমু্দ্র)
[3] বিথার] উঘারি (সমুদ্র), বিথারি (পদ)
[4] উঘার] বিঘারি (সমুদ্র), উঘারি (পদ)
[5] থীর নয়ন অথীর কছু ভেল (সমুদ্র)। থীর … অথির (পদ)
[6] দেল] দেলা (সমুদ্র)
[7] Couplets 4 and 5 are absent in PAS and PKT.
[8] কর অবধান] শুন বর কান (সমুদ্র)
[9] ধৈরজ কর পিছে মিলাওব আন (সমুদ্র)