Aadmi ko bhi muyassar nahiN insaaN hona

the last line, as per Mr. K. C Kanda, could be translated to;

” My pen is the scribe of the voice of gods.”

The 2nd line can be translated as ” It was the mind and the senses which came with My vajood that led me astray in indulging in all sorts of vices like drinking, gambling and womanizing. My coming into being was dispenable, though.

The 1st verse reads – Jab ke tujh bin koi nahin maujood.

Thanks again.

He lived in a very difficult time where he lost most of his family in 1847 and would have been himself killed if it were not for a qaseeda in praise of the Queen Empress which he had written and which found royal favor. He was still produced before the judge who asked him what kind of Musulmaan he was. He replied, ‘Huzoor main aadha musalmaan hoon.’ The judge asked him what that meant. He said, ‘Sharaab peeta hoon, suwwar nahin khata.’ 1857 and the treatment of Bahadur Shah Zafar (who he used to coach in poetry in competition with the other great man of Urdu poetry, Mir (Sahib) Taqi Mir) broke his heart. As we know, the 85 year old monarch was banished from his own land and his 3 sons were shot in cold blood, stripped and left lying naked in the street for three days. When asked why he had rebelled he replied, ‘How can a king rebel against himself? It is the Company Sahib which must ask what it is doing in my country.’ Not that such a courageous answer did him any good. Interesting to note that until and after this point until the British Crown took charge, India was actually ruled by a British MNC which had an army and which conducted war and slaughtered uncounted Indians with impunity. Its head was what today we would call Country Manager. Interesting parallels today with the MNC’s which rule India and the world in much the same ways.

History is witness to the perfidy and treachery that ensured British victory and delivered India into the hands of British colonial power for another century (more or less).

The British targeted Muslims and embarked on breaking the back of Muslim leadership and more than 150,000 Muslim scholars alone were hung from the trees along the road from Delhi to Meerut by the British. A sacrifice for their nation that is largely forgotten. The seeds for partition were sown in 1857. Meanwhile the Baniyas of Delhi and the Rajas and Maharajas of Rajputana and Punjab were rewarded by the British for their help in winning the war against the Indian patriots with scraps from the final loot of the Mughal court and the realignment of power that the British brought about ruthlessly.

Babari Masjid and all the scams that are happening today are an indication that the treachery of 1857 lives on. This is because of the cherry picking way in which we learn and teach history, glossing over the nasty parts as if ignoring facts can change reality. It has nothing to do with Islam or Hinduism. It has all to do with raw pursuit of power at any cost to the nation. They did it in 1857 and they are doing it today, Sir.

Ro-engay hum hazaar baar

Koi hamein sata-ye kyon?

Once again many thanks for the lovely links to listen to Jagjit Singh. I love his voice and Ghalib’s poetry.