Ghazal
यूँ तो न तेरे जिस्म में हैं ज़ीनहार हाथ
This ghazal weaves the motif of hands into an exploration of divine benevolence alongside intense human desire. It gracefully balances spiritual awe for the Creator's boundless generosity with the unrestrained passions, longing, and intoxication of the mortal world.
Source: rekhta · HI
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1
यूँ तो न तेरे जिस्म में हैं ज़ीनहार हाथ
देने के ऐ करीम मगर हैं हज़ार हाथ
Though in truth Your form bears not a single hand, yet to bestow, O Bounteous One, a thousand hands expand.
Although You have no physical form or hands at all, yet, O Generous One, You possess a thousand hands to bestow upon creation.
2
अंगड़ाइयों में फैलते हैं बार बार हाथ
शीशा की सम्त बढ़ते हैं बे-इख़्तियार हाथ
In languid stretches, hands reach wide again and again; toward the wine-flask, helpless and unbidden, hands extend.
While stretching languidly, hands spread out again and again, and involuntarily reach towards the wine-flask.
3
डूबे हैं तर्क-ए-सइ से अफ़सोस तो ये है
साहिल था हाथ भर पे लगाते जो चार हाथ
We drowned from abandoning our strive—the bitter grief is this: the shore was just an arm's reach away, had we struck but a few more strokes.
The real regret is that we drowned because we gave up trying; had we made just a few more swimming strokes, the shore was only an arm's length away.
4
आती है जब नसीम तो कहती है मौज-ए-बहर
यूँ आबरू समेट अगर हों हज़ार हाथ
Whenever the gentle zephyr stirs, cries the ocean's cresting wave: / 'Gather your honor close like this, though a thousand hands you have!'
When the gentle breeze blows, the ocean's wave says that even if one has a thousand hands, one should gather and protect one's honor in this manner.
5
दरपय हैं मेरे क़त्ल के अहबाब और मैं
ख़ुश हूँ कि मेरे ख़ून में रंगते हैं यार हाथ
My friends are intent upon my murder, yet I rejoice / That in my very blood my companions dye their hands.
My friends are determined to kill me, and yet I am pleased that it is my own companions who are dyeing their hands in my blood.
6
दामन-कशाँ चली है बदन से निकल के रूह
खिंचते हैं फैलते हैं जो यूँ बार बार हाथ
Withdrawing its hem, the soul departs the body; is that why the hands repeatedly reach out and pull away?
The soul is departing the body while pulling away its hem, which is why the hands are repeatedly reaching out and drawing back.
7
मिटता नहीं नविश्ता-ए-क़िस्मत किसी तरह
पत्थर से सर को फोड़ कि ज़ानू पे मार हाथ
By no means can the decree of fate be erased; dash your head against a stone, or beat your hands upon your knees.
The decree of destiny cannot be erased in any way, whether you smash your head against a rock or beat your hands on your knees in despair.
8
साक़ी सँभालना कि है लबरेज़ जाम-ए-मय
लग़्ज़िश है मेरे पाँव में और राशा-दार हाथ
Steady me, O Cupbearer, for brimful is the cup of wine; my footsteps falter, and trembling are these hands of mine.
O cupbearer, steady and support me, for the cup of wine is filled to the brim, while my feet are stumbling and my hands are trembling.
9
मुतरिब से पूछ मसअला-ए-जब्र-ओ-इख़्तियार
क्या ताल सम पे उठते हैं बे-इख़्तियार हाथ
Ask the minstrel of the riddle of destiny and free will: do hands clap to the rhythm's beat unbidden, helpless still?
Ask the musician about the dilemma of compulsion and free will, to see whether hands rise involuntarily on the rhythm's main beat.
10
मैं और हूँ अलाएक-ए-दुनिया के दाम में
मेरा न एक हाथ न उस के हज़ार हाथ
I am uniquely caught within the world’s entangled snare; neither do I have a single hand, nor He a thousand hands to spare.
I am caught in a peculiar manner within the snare of worldly attachments; neither do I have a single hand to free myself, nor does anyone have a thousand hands to rescue me.
11
ऐ 'नज़्म' वस्ल में भी रहा तू न चैन से
दिल को हुआ क़रार तो है बे-क़रार हाथ
Even in union, O Nazm, you knew no peace or calm; the heart was finally soothed, yet restless grew the hand.
O Nazm, even during union with the beloved you could not remain at peace; when the heart finally found rest, the hand grew restless.
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