laalah-e .sa;hraa

Published in baal-e jibriil (The Wing of Gabriel) (1935).
From: kulliyaat-e iqbaal urduu (Lahore: Shaikh Ghulam 'Ali and Sons Publishers, 1973 (and later reprints), *pp. 413-14*

a *ghazal*; *meter*: = = - / - = = = // = = - / - = = =

Urdu spellings reflect adjustments made for the sake of the meter.
See the 'script bar' at the bottom of the page for viewing choices.
Here's *a serial glossary*.

   
1)
yih gu;Nbad-e miinaa))ii ! yih ((aalam-e tanhaa))ii !
mujko to ;Daraatii hai is dasht kii pahnaa))ii !
 
1) this dome of azure! this state/world of solitude!
2) it frightens me, the breadth/expanse of this desert!
  = Writing muj instead of mujh in combinations like this is an occasional mannerism in Urdu; Iqbal does it again in the final verse.
   
2)
bha;Tkaa hu))aa raahii mai;N , bha;Tkaa hu))aa raahii tuu !
manzil hai kahaa;N terii ay laalah-e .sa;hraa))ii ?
 
1) I am a traveler who has lost the way, you are a traveler who has lost the way
2) where is your destination, oh desert tulip?
  = A 'having-wandered-away traveler" is one of those things you can say so elegantly in Urdu, and not at all in English.
   
3)
;xaalii hai kaliimo;N se yih koh-o-kamar varnah
tuu shu((lah-e siinaa))ii , mai;N shu((lah-e siinaa))ii !
 
1) this mountain and foothills are empty of speakers-- otherwise
2) you are a flame of Sinai, I am a flame of Sinai!
  = The reference is to Moses's encounter with God, through the burning bush (Qur'an 7:143).
   
4)
tuu shaa;x se kyuu;N phuu;Taa , mai;N shaa;x se kyuu;N ;Tuu;Taa
ik ja;zbah-e paidaa))ii ! ik la;z;zat-e yaktaa))ii !
 
1) why did you burst into bloom from the branch, why did I break from the branch?
2) a single emotion of birth/creation! a single relish of uniqueness!
 
   
5)
;Gavvaa.s-e mu;habbat kaa all;aah nigah-baa;N ho
har qa:trah-e daryaa me;N , daryaa kii hai gahraa))ii !
 

1) may God be the guardian of the diver of love
2) in every drop of the ocean, is the depth of the ocean

   
   
6)
us mauj ke maatam me;N rotii hai bha;Nvar kii aa;Nkh
daryaa se u;Thii , lekin saa;hil se nah ;Takraa))ii !
 
1) the eye of the whirlpool weeps in mourning for that wave
2) [that] arose from the ocean, but didn't collide with the shore!
   
   
7)
hai garmii-e aadam se hangaamah-e ((aalam garm
suuraj bhii tamaashaa))ii , taare bhii tamaashaa))ii !
 
1) from the heat/fervor of Adam, the commotion/tumult of the world is hot/fervent
2) the sun too is a spectator, the stars too are spectators !
   
   
8)
ay baad-e biyaabaanii mujko bhii ((inaayat ho
;xaamoshii-o-dil-sozii , sarmastii-o-ra((naa))ii !
 
1) oh desert wind, may there be vouchsafed to me too
2) silence and heart-burningness, intoxication and gracefulness!
 

 

 
 
 

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