An exquisite song in my humble opinion, rendered beautifully by Mahendra Kapoor on the tunes of N Dutta.  This song really captured my romantic imagination.. the singing, the words.. and the beautiful melody.  A video that I found on youtube is attached below the lyrics.

bhool saktaa hai bhalaa kaun ye pyaarii aaNkheiN
raNg meiN Doobi huii neeNd se bhaarii aaNkheiN
bhool saktaa hai bhalaa kaun …

meri har sos ne har soch ne chaahaa hai tumheIN
jab se dekhaa hai tumheiN tab se saraahaa hai tumheIN
bas gayii haiN mirii aaNkhoN meiN tumhaarii aaNkheiN
raNg meiN Doobii huii, neeNd se bhaari aaNkheiN
bhool saktaa hai bhalaa kaun …

tum jo nazaroN ko uThaao to sitaare jhuk jaayeiN
tum jo palkoN ko jhukaao to zamaane ruk jaayeiN
kyuN na ban jaayeiN in aaNkhoN kii pujaarii aaNkheiN
raNg meiN Doobii huii, neeNd se bhaari aaNkheiN
bhool saktaa hai bhala kaun …

jaagati raatoN ko sapnoN ka Khazaanaa mil jaaye
tum jo mil jaao to jeene ka bahaanaa mil jaaye
apnii qismat pe kare naaz hamaarii aaNkheiN
bhool saktaa hai bhalaa kaun ye pyaarii aaNkheiN
raNg meiN Doobii hui neeNd se bhaarii aaNkheiN
bhool saktaa hai bhalaa …

How does a poet chooses his pseudonym? Specifically, the question is, how did Sahir chose his?  Sahir which means “magician”, was definitely a pseudonym worthy of this poet who created magic with his words.  Note that Sahir, nee Abdul Hayee, was born in 1921 in Ludhiana.  His life-story has been talked about in several posts on this blog.  See the posts under the category “Articles” and “Documentary” on the left sidebar.   None of them have mentionned how Sahir chose his taKhallus or pen-name.

Recently there was a discussion on ALUP about the origin of Sahir’s taKhallus.  I thought it would be pertinent to sum up the discussion here (which wasn’t much of a discussion regarding the authenticity of this claim).

The original poster of this thread (linked above) mentionned that he heard on a Radio program that Sahir chose his taKhallus from a sh’er he heard written by the noted Urdu poet Allama Iqbal.  The sh’er in question is:

is chaman mein hoNge paida bulbul-e-sheraaz bhi,
saiNkRon saahir bhi hoNge saahib-e-eijaaz bhi

The meaning of this sh’er was further discussed in the ALUP thread, the gist of which is being presented here:

The term bulbul-e-sheraaz most probably refers to the famous Farsi poet Haafiz, whose name was Khvaajah Shamsuddin Muhammad and as he hailed from Shiiraaz, hence the word Sherazi making him Hafiz Sherazi.  He was also known as “bulbul-e-Shiiraaz”.  The term “saahib-e-eijaaz” refers to those who perform miracles.  The literal meaning of this couplet would be

There will be poets like Haafiz who will be born in this garden
There will also be thousands of magicians and those who perform miracles

Interesting to know that Sahir actually settled on his taKhallus after reading this sh’er.

Here’s another nazm by Sahir Ludhianvi:

aao k koi Khwaab buneiN, kal ke vaaste
varnaa ye raat, aaj ke sangeen daur ki
Das legi jaan-o-dil ko kuchh aise k jaan-o-dil
taa-umr phir na koi haseeN Khwaab bun sakeiN

go hamse bhaagti rahii ye tez-gaam umr
KhwaaboN ke aasre pe kaTii hai tamaam umr

zulfoN ke Khwaab, hoNToN ke Khwaab, aur badan ke Khwaab
mairaaj-e-fan ke Khwaab, kamaal-e-suKhan ke Khwaab
tahzeeb-e-zindagii ke, faroGh-e-watan ke Khwaab
zindaa ke Khwaab, koocha-e-daar-o-rasan ke Khwaab

ye Khwaab hii to apni jawaanii ke paas the
ye Khwaab hii to apne amal ki asaas the
ye Khwaab mar gaye haiN to berang hai hayaat
yuuN hai ki jaise dast-e-tah-e-sang hai hayaat

aao k koi Khwaab buneiN kal ke vaaste
varnaa ye raat aaj ke sangeen daur kii
Das legi jaan-o-dil ko kuchh aise k jaan-o-dil
taa-umr phir na koii haseeN Khwaab bun sakeiN

Glossary

sangeen daur = difficult era, time
taa-umr = whole life
tez-gaam = fast, speedy
mairaaj-e-fan = proficiency of an art-form
kamaal-e-suKhan = proficiency in poetry
tahzeeb-e-zindagii = civilized life (mannerful life)
faroGh-e-watan = countries progress
zindaa = prison
koocha-e-daar-o-rasan = the path that leads to gallows (martyrdom perhaps?)
asaas = base, foundation
dast-e-tah-e-sang = hand under a rock

Updating with a song this time, technically I can easily classify this under nazm as well as it is a beautiful nazm, but it was sung in Pyaasaa (Guru Dutt, 1957, Mohd. Rafi).  Attaching the video as well at the bottom from youtube.

ye haNste hue phool, ye mahka hua gulshan
ye raNg meiN aur noor meiN, Doobi hui raaheiN

ye phooloN ka ras pee ke machalte hue bhaNvre

maiN douN bhi to kyaa douN tumheiN aie shoKh nazaaroN
le de ke mere paas, kuchh aaNsoo haiN kuchh aaheiN

Important announcement:  We are now on twitter!  You can follow us there:  http://www.twitter.com/sahirludhianvi and stay updated with the new posts on this blog.

Here’s today’s nazm:

dabegi kab talak aawaaz-e-aadam, ham bhi dekheiNge
rukeiNge kab talak jazbaat-e-barham, ham bhi dekheiNge
chalo yuuN hi sahii ye jaur-e-paiham, ham bhi dekheiNge

dar-e-zindaaN se dekheiN ya urooj-e-daar se dekheiN
tumheiN ruswaa sar-e-baazaar-e-aalam ham bhi dekheiNge
zaraa dam lo ma’aal-e-shaukat-e-jam ham bhi dekheiNge

ba-zom-e-quwwat-e-faulaad-o-aahan dekh lo tum bhii
ba-faiz-e-jazbaa-e-iimaan-e-mohkam ham bhi dekheiNge
jabeen-e-kaj-kulaahii Khaak par Kham ham bhi dekheiNge

mukaafaat-e-amal taareeKh-e-insaaN kii rawaayat hai
karoge kab talak naawak faraaham ham bhi dekheiNge
kahaaN tak hai tumhaare zulm meiN dam ham bhi dekheiNge

ye hangaam-e-widaa-e-shab hai aie zulmat ke farzando
sahar ke dosh par gulnaar parcham ham bhi dekheiNge
tumheiN bhi dekhna hoga ye aalam ham bhi dekheiNge

Glossary

aawaaz-e-aadam = man’s voice
jazbaat-e-barham = anxious emotions
jaur-e-paiham = continuous atrocities
dar-e-zindaaN = from prison’s door
urooj-e-daar = from the gallows
ruswaa = insult
sar-e-baazaar-e-aalam = in the middle of world’s market
ma’aal-e-shaukat-e-jam = Jam’s might and end (Jam here could indicate intolerable, king)
ba-zom-e-quwwat-e-faulaad-o-aahan = the might of iron
ba-faiz-e-jazba-e-iimaan-e-mohkam = the grace of strong will and faith
jabeen-e-kaj-kulaahi = the head (forehead) of kings
Khaak par Kham = bowed down
mukaafaat-e-amal = compensation of action (retribution to action)
taareeKh-e-insaaN = mankind’s history
rawaayat = the way, tradition
naawak = arrows
faraaham = gather
hangaam-e-vidaa-e-shab = the time to say goodbye to the night
zulmat = darkness
farzando = sons
sahar ke dosh par = on dawn’s shoulders
gulnaar parcham = red flag
aalam = time