sitāroñ se āge

Published in bāl-e jibrīl (The Wing of Gabriel) (1935).
From: kulliyāt-e iqbāl urdū
(Lahore: Shaikh Ghulam 'Ali and Sons Publishers, 1973 (and later reprints), *p. 353*

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)
sitāroñ se āge jahāñ aur bhī haiñ
abhī ʿishq ke imtihāñ aur bhī haiñ
 
1) beyond the stars are even more worlds
2) there are still even more tests of passion
 
= Thus a world seems to be chiefly notable as a place for tests of passion.
   
2)
tihī zindagī se nahīñ yih faẓāʾeñ
yahāñ saiñkaṛoñ kāravāñ aur bhī haiñ
 
1) these expanses are not devoid of life
2) here there are hundreds of other caravans too
 
= tihī means 'devoid, empty, vacant' (Platts p.349)
= Where are 'these expanses'? On earth? In space? Where the speaker is? The poet cleverly doesn't tell us.
= The word saiñkaṛoñ is sometimes written without the first nasal. It looks as though the word in the Urdu text was first written with the nasal (since a chair for it is clearly visible), but then the dot was either omitted or removed. It's worth paying attention to such details because Iqbal himself approved this version of his poetry before publication. So perhaps in his spelling it shouldn't have the nasal.
   
3)
qanāʿat nah kar ʿālam-e rang-o-bū par
chaman aur bhī , āshiyāñ aur bhī haiñ !
 
1) don't be contented with the world of color and scent
2) there are other gardens, other nests, too
 

= The 'world of color and scent' is a standard expression for the physical world of the senses

   
4)
agar kho gayā ik nasheman to kyā ġham
maqāmāt-e āh-o-fuġhāñ aur bhī haiñ !
 
1) if one nest was lost, what's the [cause of] grief?
2) there are other places for sighing and lamenting
 
= Like the 'world' which is a place for 'tests of passion' in verse (1), a nest is here chiefly notable as a place not for shelter, but for sighing and lamenting
   
5)
tū shāhīñ hai , parvāz hai kām terā
tire sāmne āsmāñ aur bhī haiñ
 
1) you are a falcon, flight is your task
2) before you there are other skies as well
   
   
6)
isī roz-o-shab meñ ulajh kar nah rah jā
kih tere zamān-o-makāñ aur bhī haiñ
 
1) don't become entangled, and remain [so?], in this day-and-night
2) for you have other times-and-places too
  = Presumably 'this day-and-night' refers to our present, physical world. The grammar can permit two readings: 'don't become, and remain, entangled in this day-and-night' or 'don't become entangled, and remain in this day-and-night'. It's clever that we're left 'entangled' in a twofold reading about an entanglement in a twofold (day-and-night) world. (Two strands make for a much better entanglement, anyway.)
= Both roz-o-shab and zamān-o-manāñ are common phrases, with a nice idiomatic flavor
   
7)
gaʾe din kih tanhā thā maiñ anjuman meñ
yahāñ ab mire rāz-dāñ aur bhī haiñ !
 
1) the days are gone when I was alone in the gathering
2) here, now, I have other secret-sharers too
  = A 'secret-sharer' is a confidant or intimate friend
   

 

 
 
 

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