Moazzam Jah 'Shahji': Shab-e-hijr Woh Dam-ba-Dam Yaad Aaye

Moazzam Jah, Walashan Shahzada Nawab Mir Sir Shuja’at ‘Ali Khan Siddiqi Bahadur, KCIE (1907 – 1987), was the son of the last Nizam of Hyderabad, Mir Osman Ali Khan, Asaf Jah VII, and his first wife Dulhan Pasha Begum. He married Princess Niloufer, one of the last princesses of the Ottoman empire, and represents the extinction of a line that held sway in the Deccan of India for 200 years.

This son of the last Nizam was a poet who wrote under the pen name Shahji, or sometimes Shahji Hyderabadi.  Here, Farid Ayaz and Company render one of his compositions.

रब अन-दर बुतकदा शीनम, बे पैश ए बुत कुनम सजदा
अगर याबम ख़रीदारे, फ़रोशाम दीन-ओ-ईमान मा

I shall travel to the house of idolatry, circle it and prostrate myself
O find me a buyer so I can sell my belief and my faith.
(attributed to the Chistiyya saint Hazrat Bu Ali Qalandar, 1209-1324.)

दिल की दुनिया को जो बर्बाद किया करता है
उसी के दर्द को दिल याद किया करता है
जब कभी ज़ुल्म को इजाद (evolve) किया करता है
सबसे पहले वो मुझे याद किया करता है
कुछ अज़ब लुत्फ़ से बेदाद किया करता है
बाल-ओ-पर (feathers) नोच के आज़ाद किया करता है

शब-ए-हिज्र वो दम-बा-दम याद आये
बहुत याद आकर भी कम याद आये
अदू (Rivals) उनको बेहर-ए-करम याद आये
सितम आज़माने को हम याद आये
ये कैसा भी गुज़रा है आलम के पहरों
न तुम याद आये न हम याद आये
हमहीं  वो मुजस्सम-ए-वफ़ा (personification of faithfulness)  हैं के जिनको
तेरे सितम भी ब-तर्ज़-ए (transcribed as) करम याद आये
'शहजि' आज तनहा चमन में गए थे
बहुत उनके नख्श-ए-कदम याद आये |

Jigar : Allah Agar Taufiq Na De

Ali Sikandar 'Jigar Muradabadi' (1890-1960) has a special place in the history of Urdu poetry. He wrought a Sufiyana qalam with both the flamboyance of a Ghalib and the emotional depth of a Mir.




Allāh agar taufīq na de insān ke bas kā kaam nahīñ
faizān-e-mohabbat aam sahī irfān-e-mohabbat aam nahīñ

If Divine help be withheld from one, mere mortal's work it's never so
Conquests of love are common it's true; Knowledge of Love, never so.

Yā Rabb ye maqām-e-ishq hai kyā go dīda-o-dil nākām nahīñ
taskīn hai aur taskīn nahīñ ārām hai aur ārām nahīñ

Lord, what station this of Love? where the perceptive of heart never fail
Peace there is, yet there is none, comfort ever there, and yet never so.

Kyuuñ mast-e-sharāb-e-aish-o-tarab taklīf-e-tavajjoh farmā.eñ
āvāz-e-shikast-e-dil hī to hai āvāz-e-shikast-e-jām nahīñ

Why spoil the heady enchantment of drink, forcing hard attention on -
Voices of hearts strangled are, may the Voice of Wine be never so.

Aanā hai jo bazm-e-jānāñ meñ pindār-e-ḳhudī ko toḌ ke aa
ai hosh-o-ḳhirad ke dīvāne yahañ hosh-o-ḳhirad kā kaam nahīñ

When come'st thou to Beloved's hall, bring not with thee the Pride of Self
O Thou madden'd by Reason and Sense, here Reason or Sense? never so.

Zāhid ne kuchh is andāz se pī saaqī kī nigāheñ paḌne lagīñ
maikash yahī ab tak samjhe thhe shāista daur-e-jām nahīñ

The Pious one tried to drink in style, Cup-bearer's looks in askance were drawn
The drunkards had hitherto thought, gentle'd goblet's pass, could be never so.

Ishq aur gavārā ḳhud kar le be-shart shikast-e-fāsh apnī
kuchh dil ki bhi un ke sāzish hai tanhā ye nazar kā kaam nahīñ

Love made disappear rapidly, condition-less, all my obvious lacks
Heart must've conspired with Her, for work of lonely gaze 'twas never so.