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  or copy and paste in internet address window, 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 21st 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) & its explanation in Urdu, Gujarati, and English

Ahbab    chara-sazi-e-vehsat    na   kar    sake           My friend couldn’t find cure for my (love) craze                         ZindaN meiN bhi Khayal bayabaaN nawrd tha          In prison also, my thoughts were wandering in desert                  Ahbab= Plural of Habib=a friend   chara-sazi=treatment, cure   vehshat=extreme behavior, craziness                ZindaN=prison, confinement    bayabaaN=jungle, desert     naward= imperative of Persian verb Nawurdan=toroam 'bayabaaN nward= one who roams in un-inhibited places like desert and jungles

This is the 6^th verse of Ghalib’s 7^th ghazal. We are skipping the 5^th verse. This ghazal is not popular at street level yet it is a beautiful one; I love it.

Meaning: To “cure” my crazy behavior my friends put restrains on me and threw me into a prison so that I wouldn’t roam in deserts and jungles and flare my love-craze. Though they put physical restrains on my body, they couldn’t restrain my thoughts and my spirit; because even in jail, I could mentally roam in jungles and deserts. Meaning, my friends’ efforts to restrain me, miserably failed.

I like this verse very much. If a person is determined and has a will of steel, no super power can restrain him. Examples of Nelson Mandela, Mahatma Gandhi, Faiz-Ahmed Faiz, Abul Kalam Azad, Jesus Christ, Ayatollah Khomeini and many others have put their seal of approval on this verse which resonates from horizon to horizon.

There one more Urdu verse by someone else that testifies the same idea:

           Mujhe asir kare ya meri zaban kaTe       mere Khayal ko beDi pehna nahiN  sakte '                              '                  Asir = a prisoner                                                                                                                                          They may imprison me or may cut off my tongue           They shall never succeed shackling my thoughts (and my spirit)