02h1_mushairah

SECTION 2h-1	back to section 2g (we're now on page *t̤oʾe , continued*)
After that Mazhar ul-Haq Sahib, a well-known poet living somewhere outside [Lucknow], who now by chance had come into the mushairah-- he recited this nazm: =========== ==A nazm ('arrangement') is a 'poem' pure and simple; its name claims the freedom to make formal choices at will, and on the fly. But this one is really more like a masnavi in form, and has a very strict meter (#14/15 in the meter list ).	us ke baʿd maz̤har ul-ḥaq ṣāḥib ek nāmī shāʿir kahīñ bāhar ke rahne-vāle jo is vaqt ittifāq se vārid-e mushāʿirah the - unhoñ ne yih naz̤m paṛhī -
1) the state of our mushairahs is such that jesters now make jests about it	hai hamāre mushāʿiroñ kā yih ḥāl jis kī ab naql karte haiñ naqqāl
2) they laugh at the ways of the people of skill they laugh at the style of the poetry-gathering	ravish-e ahl-e fan pah hañste haiñ rang-e bazm-e suḳhan pah hañste haiñ
3) what a revolution in the time-- alas, for shame! such a valuation of poetry-- alas, for shame!	kyā zamāne meñ ġhadr hay taubah shāʿirī kī yih qadr hay taubah
4) although they don't have respect for literature they express no unfounded satire	go kih pās-e adab nahīñ karte hajv kuchh be-sabab nahīñ karte
5) the sweetly-speaking poets move around taking along with them a large crowd	chalte haiñ shāʿirān-e ḳhvush-taqrīr apne hamrāh le ke jamm-e ġhafīr
6) when do the poets go alone? they come, bringing connoisseurs along	kab suḳhanvar akele jāte haiñ qadr-dānoñ ko le ke āte haiñ
7) they go into the arenas with an army countless partisans are with them	jāte haiñ maʿrikoñ meñ fauj samet sāth hote haiñ be-shumār phañḍet
8) those who wouldn't have this crowd with them their ghazal would never receive acclamation	jin ke hamrāh yih hujūm nah ho kabhī un kī ġhazal kī dhūm nah ho
9) one over there says vah vah one over here sighs ah, ah =========== ==It was sometimes said that Ghalib's poetry inspired 'vah vah', while Mir's poetry inspired sighs of 'ah ah'.	ik udhar vāh vāh kartā hai ik idhar āh āh kartā hai
10) vah! what a pearl-scattering style it is! vah! what a manner of fine expression it is!	vāh kyā t̤arz-e dur-fishānī hai vāh kyā vaẓʿ-e ḳhvush-bayānī hai
11) someone says, vah, what can be said! in truth, this is a new utterance!	koʾī kahtā hai vāh kyā kahnā fī'l-ḥaqīqat hai yih nayā kahnā
12) how could anyone compose better than this? when has there been an Ustad like you?	is se bahtar kahegā kyā koʾī kab hai ustād āp sā koʾī
13) in this age you are unique truly, you are the pride of Mir and Mirza [Sauda]	is zamāne meñ āp yaktā haiñ vāqaʿī faḳhr-e mīr-o-mirzā haiñ
14) as if they had any beauty of poetry! they were nothing-- only big names!	kab muyassar thā un ko ḥusn-e kalām kuchh nah the vuh faqat hai nām hī nām
15) where in their divans are such 'lancets'? by the Lord, you are better than they! =========== =='Lancets' (named after a blood-letting tool) were particularly sharp, excellent, 'pointed' verses; Mir's divan was said to contain a specific number of them, though not always the same number (or the same verses).	[chhoṭī ye] un ke dīvāñ meñ kab yih nashtar haiñ baḳhudā āp un se bahtar haiñ
	on to section 2h-2

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