From: anajam@athena.mit.edu (ADIL NAJAM)
Subject: Re: Request for a nazm
Keywords: poem nazm amjad islam muhabbat
Organization: Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Date: Thu, 1 Oct 1992 14:23:58 GMT


Muhammad Basit[rom] writes:

|> I remember reading a long time back, a nazm (poem) by
|> Amjad Islam Amjad titled Muhabbat. It's a beautiful
|> nazm. Does anybody else recall it? If yes can you
|> post it here (and email me if possible)?
|> 
|> Basit
|> ---
|> understanding shairi is its own reward -mb



I think I know the poem you are talking about.  It is certainly one of my
favourite poems.  As per your request I am going to transcribe it here but I do 
so with a note that since I am writing it from memory I may well be wrong in the
placement of a misra or two.  Also, I have long believed that this particular 
poem should not be "read" but "heard".  I transcribe it here as I remember
it, trying to convey the same pauses and inflections that make it so
heart-warming......I realise that in english script reading it may be
even more difficult..............however I ENCOURAGE YOU ALL TO MAKE THE EFFORT 
IN READING IT, I certainly believe it is one of the most beutiful nazms that I
have heard, the one comparable ones I can think of are Iqbal's Shikwa, Munir
Niazi's "hamaisha dair kar daita houN meiN" and Iftikhar Arif's "baarhvaaN
khilaaRRi".

[I am including a rough (non-literal) translation which I realize does not do 
justice to the original but I include it so that you can follow it more easily 
and so that those not too accustomed to reading Latinized urdu may also be able 
to share the depth of Amjad's emotions.]




MOHABAT  (by Amjad Islam Amjad)
================================

aagar kabhi mairee yaad aa-aye
		
		[if ever you remember me.....]
 
aagar kabhi mairee yaad aa-aye
tou chaand raatouN ki narm, dilgeer roshni meiN
kissi sitaray ko daikh laina
aagar woh nakhl-e-falak say uRR kar
tumhaaray qadmouN meiN aaa giray tou
yeh jaan laina, woh isstaara hai mairay dill ka
....aagar naa aa-aye.......
magar yeh mumkin he kiss tarhaaN hai
keh tumm kissi par nigah daalo
aur uss ki deevar-e-jaaN na tootay....
woh hasti aapni na bhool jaa-aye....
....aagar kabhi mairee yaad aa-aye....

		[if ever you remember me,
		 look up at the moon on a starlit night,
		 search then for the brightest star on the sky,
		 and if that star fleets out of its heavenly abode
		 and lands upon your feet, then you can be certain, 
		 that the star is the symbol of my undying love, of my heart
		 ......but what if it does not come flying down?.....
		 Ah, but how is that possible?
		 How is it possible that you lay your eyes on something,
	  	 and its walls of existence do not shatter,
		 and its defences remain intact,
		 and it does not forget all, all except your beauty
		 ......but all this, if you ever remember me.]

aagar kabhi mairee yaad aa-aye
guraiz karti hawa ki lehrouN pay haath rakhna,
meiN khusboouN meiN tumhain millouN ga....
mujhay gulaabouN ki paateeouN meiN talash karna,
meiN oous qatrouN kay aa-eenouN meiN tumhain milouN ga....

		[if ever you remember me,
		 place you hand upon the fleeting winds,
		 for I shall meet you in the fragraces they carry....
		 search for me in the petals of the rose,
		 for I shall meet you in the mirrors of morning dew....] 		

aagar sitarouN meiN, oous qatrouN meiN, khusboouN mein
na paa-ooo mujh ko.....tou aapnay qadmouN meiN daikh laina;
meiN gard hooti musaafatouN meiN tumhaiN milouN ga

		[but if you do not find me in the stars, 
		 in morning the dew or in those fleeting fragrances,
		 then just look down to your wonderous feet,
		 and you shall find me in the trevails of much travelled dust]

kahin pay roshan charaagh daikho....tou jaan laina,
keh harr patingay ki raakh maiN, meiN bhi jall raha houN
	tumm aapnay haathouN say
	inn patingouN ki raakh
	darya meiN daal daina

		[if ever you see a burning flame, be assured in your heart
		 that with each "patinga" that burns itself in the fire's wrath
		 I too am burning myself in the glow of your love.
		 And with your own hands, take the ash
		 that had once been the "patinga(z)"
		 and place them in the flowing streams........]

meiN raakh baan kar samandarouN ka safar karouN ga
kissi na daikhay hooway jazeeray pay rukk kar,
	tumm ko saadaiN douN ga

		[turned to ash, I shall travel the seven seas
		 and search for an island that has never been inhabited
		 and once there, I shall unceasingly cry out to you.....]

samandarouN kay safar pay niklo
tou iss jazeeray pay bhi utarna.......

		[if ever you go for a voyage on sea,
		 do search for that lonely island........]

.....aagar kabhi mairee yaad aa-aye.

		[....but all this if ever you remember me........]







=======================================
ADIL [mohabbat aaisa darya hai,
      keh baarish thehar bhi jaa-aye
      tou paani kumm nahiN hoota] NAJAM
=======================================
Newsgroups: soc.culture.pakistan