*back to section 1a*
(we're now on page *jīm , continued*)

Umrao Jan: (the moment she saw me) By God, Mirza Sahib, you've forgotten us entirely!
I: Who knew in which 'Mount Qaf' you've been pleased to live?
Umrao Jan: Well, I've often heard your voice, but I never had the courage to send for you. But today your ghazal made me restless. Uncontrollably, 'vah' emerged from my mouth; while some sahib said, 'please come here'. For my part, I myself was embarrassed. It occurred to me to remain silent, but then my heart didn't consent. Finally, for the sake of former associations, I put you to the trouble of coming. Please pardon me. Indeed, just please recite that verse again.
I: There will be no pardon, nor will I recite the verse. If you are an enthusiast, then please graciously come over there.

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=='Mount Qaf' is the legendary land of Paris and Devs, well-known from the Dastan-e Amir Hamzah and other such Persian and Urdu romances. Here of course it suggests that Umrao Jan had been out of touch with her friends.

Umrao: All right then, I'll come tomorrow.
I: Why don't you come along right now?
Umrao: Oh no, not now! Just look at the state I'm in!
I: There's no need for a 'performance' there, it's an informal group-- come right along.
Umrao: Oh dear, Mirza Sahib, you're a peerless persuader! All right, you go along; I'm just coming.
I rose and came away. After a little while Umrao Jan Sahibah, having arranged her hair and such, and changed her clothes, came along.
In a few words I had acquainted my companions with her taste for poetry and her excellence in musical skill and so on. People had become eager to see her. When she came, then it was decided that everyone would recite his own poetry, and she too would recite. In short, a very enjoyable gathering took place.

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==A mujrā is a professional performance by a courtesan.
==The verb paṛhnā literally means 'to read', but the emphasis here is on oral recitation; the poet may or may not actually be reading from a written notebook.

From that day, usually Umrao Jan came in the evening. For hours together the session would continue. Sometimes there was a gathering for poetry recitation, sometimes she sang something. The friends were delighted. The mood of one such gathering we here record. In those mushairahs no rhyming-pattern was fixed, nor were pledges [of participation] taken from many people. Only close friends gathered together, and recited their freshly composed ghazals.

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==No rhyming-pattern was fixed: that is, people could recite any ghazal they wanted, without having its formal qualities prescribed by a pre-set 'pattern line' [miṣraʿ-e t̤arḥ] to which all ghazals had to conform, as in an official 'tarahi' mushairah.