For those who have joined now, let me say few words about this Ghalib series. 

Ghalib, his ghazals, his poems, his genius, and his wits have always fascinated millions of Urdu lovers including myself. Those who want to read my previous work please Ctrl + click on the following link. http://www.mirza-ghalib.org or, if you choose, you may send me an email request; I will email back my previous explanations just for asking.

This is my 13th installment.  I have received excellent response from lot of friends; both Urdu and non-Urdu speakers. Please know that this is my own, Asghar Vasanwala’s, work and not a forwarding of someone else’s work as some you thought. Please forward this to your friends. Also please send me your comments/complements. I will appreciate if you forward me emails of your Urdu/non-Urdu friends. 

Here is today’s verse (she'r) in Urdu, Gujarati, and Roman script.

Shouq   har   rang  raqib-e-sar-o-samaN  nikla         love, in any color, is enemy of  belongings                                        Qais tasweer ke parde meiN bhi QoryaN nikla         Seemingly the picture of Qais (Majnu-the legendary lover) is covered with veil of  a                                                                              canvas, yet he remains naked!  (Qais, ripped his own clothing and remained bare) shouq= love, yearning         Har-rang= in any color, in all aspects          Raqeeb= a rival, an enemy                                    sar-o-samaN= belongings,  roti-kapda-makan (food-clothing-roof), possessions          nikla= came out, is apparent        Qais= real name of Majnu.  In Arabic majnu means a crazy person; it is derived from junun=craze. Arabs called Qais a Majnu, because of his non-conforming and crazy, behavior.   Tasweer ke parde = canvas of picture                          OoryaN= naked, exposed

This is the 1st verse of Ghalib’s 6th Ghazal. Being 1st verse of a ghazal it is a “Matla” of the ghazal and its both lines have same radif & qafiya, a rhyming end.  This is one of the most celebrated Ghazals of Ghalib. It has been sung among others, by top singers Rafi, Talat, Asha, & Lata. To listen to 3 of them, please click here:   

http://lists.elistx.com/archives/blank/200409/mpegYbRhCThK3V.mpeg    Rafi http://lists.elistx.com/archives/blank/200409/mpegrwiKIHRsT9.mpe         Unknown http://lists.elistx.com/archives/blank/200409/mpegbw11mgDYCZ.mpeg   Lata

The Ghazal has simple words, a short meter, great choice words, and depth of meaning. Play on words such as: paint, canvas, and nakedness and also the depth of its meaning are a mind boggling ecstasy.

Meaning: In Urdu poetry, Majnu is symbol as well as maestro of love; no one can top him. Again, followers of all religions or path celebrate every action of their prophets, Gurus, and leaders. In the same vein, Urdu poets loud actions of Majnu, and consider emulating him an honor.

Love is for sake of love. It doesn’t need comfort, assets, belongings, or pleasure of roti-kapda-makan. Majnu shunned them all. To expand on this Ghalib says, a painter renders Majnu’s portrait on a canvas (parda), with paint; he sketches him naked, because Majnu always tore-off his clothing; he didn’t need comfort of clothing. That is the way Majnu looked.

Both canvas and paint are also used for covering or hiding blemishes and also for making a subject look more beautiful. Ghalib almost in disbelief wonders that painters for centuries tried to alter Majnu’s look by covering him with canvas and paint, but they miserably failed; Majnu still manifests naked! Ghalib thinks this is almost a miracle and concludes that love, always-in all colors, is enemy of (worldly) pleasure. The painter dressed Majnu with paint and canvas but he rebelled against this pleasure of color and clothing and stayed put naked.

Look at men of God, such as true Sufis, yogis, hermits, and fakirs. They despise worldly, external, and artificial pleasure. They are in love with God and don’t care about anything other then their focus on love of Almighty. A painter can’t show a fakir or a yogi full-clad; his canvas and paint can’t cover his body! Their nakedness is a symbol by which they are recognized.   

Ghalibologists’ opinions:                                                                                                                                      Bekhud: Color of love is such that neither a painter’s garment of canvas can dress Qais nor his color can cover his body, and fix his nakedness. Har-rang means: in love, in crazy state, in nakedness, in painters color, in short, in all situations, love has proved to be an enemy of pomp and pleasure and Mirza Ghalib has exposed it.

Taba-tabaee: He criticizes Ghalib. He says, har-rang is not an idiom; it should have been har-tarah. Just to meet the demands of meter and rhyme of words, mutilation of an idiom is not justified.