ड़ा. ज़रीना सानी की नागहानी मौत पर – ज़िया फतेहाबादी

While Dr. Zarina Sani worked on the biographical book on Zia Fatheabadi, they formed a close bond. On her untimely demise he expressed his grief with these heartbreaking words.

The Ghazal was published in his book “Naram Garam Hawain” in the 1987 edition (page 37) and has been included in “Meri Tasveer” 2011 edition (page 92)

पा शिकस्ता रबाब है ख़ामोश
पर्दा पर्दा हिजाब है ख़ामोश

ख़ुमकदे में सुकूत का आलम
खाना ए आफताब है ख़ामोश

थम गयी कायनात की गरदिश
शोरिश-ए-इन्क़लाब है ख़ामोश

हादसों की ये खुद पशेमानी
खलिश-ए-इज़तिराब है ख़ामोश

बेसवाली दलील-ए-नाफ़हमी
आईना-ए-लाजवाब है ख़ामोश

मँज़िल-ए-रेगज़ार ख़ाक बसर
तिशनगी-ए-शराब है ख़ामोश

ऐ ग़म-ए-दिल न शोर-ए-हश्र न उठा
ज़िन्दगी महव-ए-ख़्वाब है ख़ामोश

बेक़राँ दश्त-ए-बेकसी में “ज़िया”
दिल-ए-ख़ानाख़राब है ख़ामोश

— ज़िया फतेहाबादी

पा – पाँव/feet
शिकस्ता –  हारे हुये / broken
रबाब – वाद्य/ a stringed instrument
ख़ुमकदा – मदिरालय / wine bar
सुकूत – चुप्पी / silence
खाना-ए-आफताब – सूरज का घर  / Sun’s home
कायनात – संसार /world
गरदिश – दुर्भाग्य/ misfortune
शोरिश- दंगाफसाद / disturbances
खलिश -चुभन / pain
इज़तिराब-  बेचैनी / restlessness
दलील- argument
नाफ़हमी- मूर्खता
रेगज़ार- रेग़िस्तान / desert
तिशनगी- प्यास / thirst
हश्र- कोलाहल /lament
महव-ए-ख़्वाब- मिटा हुआ सपना /an erased dream
बेक़राँ – असीम /boundless
बेकसी- मजबूरी
ख़ानाखराब- अभागा /unfortunate

What is Ghazal – translated by Abhay Avachat

After my article on Madanmohan and Khaiyyam, some nettors asked me
to clearly say, which poem can be called Ghazal. And also because of
some statements I made in that article, I think it's my duty to give
the 'definition' of Ghazal. Although, many would be knowing this, for
some this information can be new, for some this will mean precise
description of some general terms.
This article has become "technical", but I hope it's not boring.
And I also hope, this is helpful for the Ghazal fans.

Instead of giving my personal views, I thought of quoting somebody
who is an authority. There is book/dictionary/colection of Sher's
titled "Aaina-e-ghazal", which IMHO is a treasure for every Ghazal 
fan. In this there is a long essay - "Ghazal kya hai ?" by Dr.Arshad
Jamaal.
The essay is written in Hindi, and is about History of Ghazal, its
development, its milestones, important Shayar's etc. One part of it
describes the definition of Ghazal. The following is loosely based
on that. The essay talks only about what IS a Ghazal. To that I have
added in the following, what is NOT a Ghazal. So any mistakes in these
parts, are mine. [ These are enclosed in square brackets like this. ]

Also one thing should be kept in mind that, this is not mathematics.
So "preciseness" of the "definition" should not be questioned.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

Classical Definition of Ghazal
===============================

Ghazal in short, is a collection of Sher's which follow the rules of
'Matla', 'Maqta', 'Beher', 'Kaafiyaa' and 'Radif'. So to know what
Ghazal is, it's necessary to know what these terms mean.

To understand these terms easily , we will take an example.

	1.	koi ummid bar nahin aati
		koi surat nazar nahin aati
	2.	aage aati thi haale dil par hasi
		ab kisi baat par nahin aati
	3.	hum wahan hain, jahan se humko bhi
		kucch hamaari khabar nahin aati
	4.	kaabaa kis muh se jaaoge 'Ghalib'
		sharm tumko magar nahin aati

What is a Sher ?
    It's a poem of two lines. This definition is deceptively simple.
    Please note that, every Sher is a poem in itself ! A Sher does not
    need, anything around it, to convey the message.
    All the 4 stanzas in our example are independent poems, Sher's.

So Ghazal is necessarily a collection of two-line-poems called Sher.
[ So the Rafi solo "rang aur noor ki baaraat kise pesh karu" is NOT
a Ghazal, as every stanza is of 3 lines, and not 2. ]

What are other restrictions ? Many, and important ones.
[ Any collection of Sher's is not Ghazal. Some good examples are ; the
famous Mukesh song from Yehoodi, "yeh mera deewaanaapan hai" ; and the
title song of "dil apana aur preet parayi". Each stanza in these songs
can be considered as an independent Sher, but they are NOT Ghazal's.
To understand,  why, we have to wait till 'Kaafiyaa, 'Radif'. ]

What is 'Beher' ?
    'Beher' is the 'meter' of the Sher's. It can be considered as the
    length of the Sher. Both the lines in the Sher *MUST* be of
    same 'Beher'. And all the Sher's in one Ghazal *MUST* be of the
    same 'Beher'. There are 19 (!!) kinds of 'Beher'. But in simple terms,
    'Beher' is categorized in 3 classes. Short, medium, long.
    [ The examples in [] are my additions, from Hindi Films. ]

    Small :
	ahale dairo-haram reh gaye
	tere deewane kam reh gaye
	[ Also Talat song, "dil-e-nadan tuze hua kya hai" ]

    Medium :
	umr jalwo me basar ho, ye zaruri to nahin
	har shab-e-gam ki seher ho, ye zaruri to nahin
	[ And by Gulzar, "ruke ruke se kadam, ruk ke baar baar chale" ]

    Long :
ai mere humnashin, chal kahin aur chal, is chaman me ab apanaa guzaaraa nahin
baat hoti gulon ki, to seh lete hum, ab to kaaton pe bhi haq hamaaraa nahin
[ The filmfare winner, "Manzile apani jagah hai" !! Yes ! It IS a Ghazal.
And the Shayar is Prakash Mehra !! surprise , surprise !! ]

So Ghazal is a collection of Sher's of SAME 'Beher'.

What is 'Radif' ?
    In a Ghazal, second line of all the Sher's *MUST* end with the *SAME*
    word/s. This repeating common words is the 'Radif' of the Ghazal.

    In our example, the 'Radif' is "nahin aati".

    [ Sometimes, the Ghazal becomes known by its 'Radif'. eg. "jaraa
    aahista chal" sung by Pankaj Udhas. On RMIM we all know one Ghazal by
    the 'Radif' as "aahista aahista", don't we ? or is it 2 or 3 ? :-) ]

What is 'Kaafiyaa' ?
    'Kaafiyaa' is the rhyming pattern which all the words before 'Radif'
    *MUST* have.

    In our example the 'Kaafiyaa' is "bar", "nazar", "par", "magar" etc.
    This is a necessary requirement. Something which is followed even in
    the exceptions to all these rules.

So Ghazal is a collection of Sher's of same 'Beher', ending in same
'Radif' and having same 'Kaafiyaa'.
[ That's the reason, why "yeh mera diwanapan hai" etc. are NOT Ghazals.
There is no common thing which can be called 'Kaafiyaa' and 'Radif'. ]

What is 'Matla' ?
    The first Sher in the Ghazal *MUST* have 'Radif' in its both lines.
    This Sher is called 'Matla' of the Ghazal and the Ghazal is usually
    known after its 'Matla'. There can be more than one 'Matla' in a
    Ghazal. In such a case the second one is called 'Matla-e-saani' or
    'Husn-e-matla'.
    In our example, the first Sher is the 'Matla'.

What is 'Maqta' ?
    A Shayar usually has an alias ie. 'takhallus' eg. Mirza Asadullakhan
    used 'Ghalib' as his 'takhallus' and is known by that. Other examples
    are 'Daag' Dehlvi, 'Mir' Taqi Mir, Said 'Rahi', Ahmed 'Faraz' etc.
    There is a Sher in a Ghazal, the last one, which has the Shayar's
    'takhallus' in it.
    [ A Shayar, can use the 'Maqta' very intelligently. He can "talk to
    himself" like one in our example. I have lots of favourite Sher's
    which are 'Maqta' of some Ghazal. Some gems are
	koi nam-o-nishan puchhe to ai kaasid bataa denaa,
	takhallus 'Daag' hai, aur aahiqon ke dil me rehte hai
    and
	jab bhi milte hain, to kehte hain, "kaise ho 'Shakil'",
	iske aage to koi baat nahin hoti hai
    The first one uses the meaning of the 'takhallus' to create the
    magic, and the second one is just simple, simply beautiful. ]

To summarize, Ghazal is a collection of Sher's (independent two-line
poems), in which there is atleast one 'Matla', one 'Maqta' and all
the Sher's are of same 'Beher' and have the same 'Kaafiyaa' and
'Radif'.

EXCEPTIONS AND IMP. POINTS TO NOTE
==================================

1. Ghazal is just a form. It is independent of any language.
eg. in Marathi also, there can be (and there are) good Ghazals.

2. Some Ghazal's do NOT have any 'Radif'. Rarely. Such Ghazal's
are called "gair-muraddaf" Ghazal.

3. Although, every Sher, should be an independent poem in itself,
it is possible, that all the Sher's are on the same theme. What
famous example can be other than "chupke chupke raat din aasun
bahaanaa yaad hai".

4. In modern Urdu poetry, there are lots of Ghazal's which do
NOT follow the restriction of same 'Beher' on both the lines
of Sher. [ My example in 'Maqta', the Sher by Shakil, is one. ]
But even in these Ghazal's, 'Kaafiyaa' and 'Radif' are present.

5. The restriction of 'Maqta' is really very loose. Many many
Ghazal's do NOT have any 'Maqta'. [ I think 'Maqta' was used in
the earlier times, as a way to keep the credit. But since this is
traditional, many Ghazal's do have a 'Maqta' just for the sake of it.
Sometimes the name of the Shayar comes unnaturally in the last
Sher of the Ghazal. ]

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

So that's my long essay on Ghazal :-)
I hope it helps in clearing some doubts, and I also hope
that atleast for some, the information was interesting and new.

- Abhay.
Ghazal rudaad hai naakaamiyon ki,
Ghazal mehrumiyon ki daastaan hai |
Ghazal riste hue zakhmon ka marham,
Ghazal ek chaaraa-e-dard-e-nihan hai |
Ghazal ka husn hi hai, husn-e-aalam,
Ghazal ka noor hi noor-e-jahan hai |

- Jagdish Bhatnagar 'Hayaat'

Boodha Darakth

Boodha darkth (बूढ़ दरख़्त) is Dr. Zarina Sani’s biographical work on Meher Lal Soni “Zia Fatehabadi” a renowned Urdu poet. She was close to Zia Saheb and was inspired by his works. This was her third book;  published in 1979.

Please click here to downloaded Boodha Darkth in Urdu. I am working on transcribing this book in Hindi, and any help in this regard would be appreciated.

Boodha Darakth

The site ZarinaSani.Org is online

On 75th birth anniversary of Dr. Zarina Sani we are happy and proud to unveil the website, http://www.zarinasani.org. The website is an online archive for the literary works of Dr. Zarina Sani. It will be our endeavor to regularly keep the site updated with more of her poems, stories and other literary works. Do subscribe to the RSS feed to keep yourself updated.

Feedback and corrections in transcription are welcome, please feel free to write to me.
– Swati Sani

तू अपने जैसा अछूता खयाल दे मुझको

मैं टूट जाउँगी लेकिन न झुक सकूंगी कभी
मजाल है किसी पैकर में ढ़ाल दे मुझको

तू अपने जैसा अछूता खयाल दे मुझको
मैं तेरा अक्स हूँ अपना जमाल दे मुझको

मैं अपने दिल से मिटा दूंगी तेरी याद मगर
तू अपने ज़ेहन से पहले निकाल दे मुझको !

मैं संगे कोह की मांनिंद हूँ न बिखरूंगी
न हो यकीं जो तुझे, तो उछाल दे मुझको

खुशी खुशी बढ़ूं, खो जाऊं तेरी हस्ती में
‘अना’ के ख़ौफ से “सानी” निकाल दे मुझको
تو اپنے جیسا اچھوتا خیال دے مجھ کو
میں تیرا عکس ہوں اپنا جمال دے مجھ کو

میں ٹوٹ جاگي لیکن نہ جھک سکوں گی کبھی
مجال ہے کسی پےكر میں ڑھال دے مجھ کو

میں اپنے دل سے مٹا دوںگی تیری یاد مگر
تو اپنے ذہن سے پہلے نکال دے مجھ کو!

میں سگے کوہ کی ماند ہوں نہ بكھروگي
نہ ہو یقین جو تجھے، تو اچھال دے مجھ کو

خوشی خوشی بڑھو، کھو جاؤں تیری هستي میں
انا’ کے خوپھ سے “ثانی” نکال دے مجھ کو’
This Ghazal was published in “Kaumiraj” (date not known)

अक्स – प्रतिबिंब /reflection
जमाल – सौंर्दय /beauty
पैकर – िजस्म / body (here it means mould)
संगे कौह – पहाड़ का पत्थर / stone (here it means strong as a stone)
अना – अहंभाव /ego