Ji Chahe

Ji Chahe
(from Raqs-e-Bismil – Dance of the Wounded)
Lyrics: Hazrat Shah Niaz, Baba Zaheen Shah Taji
Composed by: Muzaffar Ali
Singer: Abida Parveen

Ghazal literally means talking to a woman. It means conversing with the beloved. Broadly speaking, Sufism equates God as the Beloved. Sufi poetry has references to common mortals in love with beloved God. In search of God. In search of their beloved.

Ji Chahe is a beautiful ghazal rendered even more beautifully and soulfully by Abida Parveen – the voice of Sufism. The Holi poem that precedes the ghazal is written by Hazrat Shah Niaz. The ghazal is by Baba Zaheen Shah Taji. The Holi poem seems to be in a UP dialect – I am guessing UP since Niaz hails from UP.

Dance of the Wounded – wounded in search for their beloved? Being wounded can’t be all that bad if one can dance in ecstasy.

"Horih hoye rahi hai
Ahmad jiyo ke dwar

Hazrat Ali ka raang bano hai
Hasan Husain khilar

Aiyso hori ke dhum machi hai
chahun or pari hai pukaa

Aiyso anokho chatur khiladi
raang dinyon sansar

Niaz pyara bhar bhar chidke
ek hi raang sahas pichkar"
- Hazrat Shah Niaz

This poem can be interpreted as the festival Holi being played in the courtyard of Ahmed’s house. Ahmed is another name for Mohammed. Hazrat Ali is a sufi preacher/ possibly, a figure of some prominence. Hassan and Hussein are grandsons of Prophet Mohammed. So this couplet can be interpreted as: Hasan's and Husein's antics/play have colored Hazrat Ali's devotion/sufism. Hazrat Shah has included his signature, "Niaz", in the final couplet – his takhallus. So Niaz pyara is one who is dear to Niaz, in other words - God. God has filled his pichkari with color – the color of devotion and with this he is coloring the world in abandon.

Ji chahe to sheesha ban ja, ji chahe paimana ban ja
Sheesha paimana kya banna, mai ban ja maikhana ban ja..
If you wish, become the glass, or the chalice
But why choose those when you can become the wine and the tavern

Mai ban kar, maikhana ban kar masti ka afsana ban ja
Masti ka afsana bankar hasti se begaana ban ja
By becoming the wine and the tavern, become the tale of intoxication
By becoming the tale of intoxication, become a stranger to life
(interpretation: lose yourself in the lust of devotion)

Hasti se bagaana hona masti ka afsana banna
Is hone se is banne se achha hai deewana ban ja
Becoming a tale, becoming a stranger to being,
Better than these, however, is to become a madman.
(interpretation: become madly in love with God)

Deewana ban jane se deewana hona achha hai
deewana hone se achha, khak e dar e jaanana ban ja
Better than becoming a madman is to be a madman
Better than being a madman is to become dust at the door of a beloved

Khak e dar e jaanana kya hai, ahle dil ki annkh ka surma
Shama ke dil ki thandak ban ja, noor e dil e parwana ban ja
What is dust, but kohl in the eyes of the people of the heart
Become the coolness at the heart of a candle, become the light at the heart of a moth
(interpretation: illuminate the heart of the seeker of God)

Seekh Zaheen ke dil se jalna, kahe ko har shamma par jalna
Apni aag mein khud jal jaye, tu aisa parwana ban ja
Learn, Zaheen (Intelligent One - takhallus) to burn from the heart,
Why burn for every flame.
Become that moth that burns in its own fire
(interpretation: burn in your own internal flame, be directed by your inner self. Do not be disturbed by the worries around you)

P.S. I wish to acknowledge 'carvaka' for starting the dance.

You can listen to the ghazal here.

Ghazal = Poetry set to Music

I love a good ghazal.
What qualities make a ghazal good?
Soul dripping lyrics, strong enough to drive your thoughts to feelings undiscovered.
Music with the ability to meld the lyrics to your mind.
In my opinion, ghazals are the Blues of India. So, a ghazal has to sound great at night. Me, with my eyes closed, listening. Absorbing the words floating in the music.

Lyrics are the soul of a ghazal. I have been translating ghazals over the years. I have an affinity for Bahadur Shah Zafar ghazals. I will take the opportunity this blog provides to post them here.

“The translation is not of comparable literary value as the original ghazal, and serves the mere purpose of providing those, who find Urdu an alien tongue, a coarse outline of the poet's creation.” - found on the internet

I strongly believe in this. Native bengali speakers who have read Tagore will aver that the English translations do not hold a candle to the original Bengali versions. I have read a few Tagore poems in English and I found them to be sublime. So I can not even imagine the feelings that the original evokes in people who can understand.

Translating a ghazal helps me absorb the ghazal into my conscience. I am not a Urdu scholar. I take the help of online urdu dictionaries and the quest for a meaning of a Urdu word has taken me all over the net. It feels like a treasure hunt - to decipher the meaning, to wonder what the poet means and hoping you are getting it correct. Not for an audience, but for my own understanding. For me, to feel the real sentiments in the poem.