Subscribe
Sahir Ludhianvi’s Taj Mahal
Sahir Ludhianvi’s immortal poem Taj Mahal has always fascinated me. It takes a most unconventional take at this beautiful monument where the poet protests at the choice of an romantic rendezvous.
Today, I found a lovely translation of this poem. I am reproducing it below - but first a few lines from Urdu:
Yeh chaman zar yeh jamna ka kinara yeh mahal
Yeh munaqqash dar-o-deevar yeh mehrab yeh taaq
Aik shahanshah nay daulat ka sahara lay ker
Hum ghareebon kee mohabbat ka uraya hai mazaaqÂ
 Taj Mahal
The Taj, mayhap, to you may seem, a mark of love supreme
You may hold this beauteous vale in great esteem;
Yet, my love, meet me hence at some other place!
How odd for the poor folk to frequent royal resorts;
‘Tis strange that the amorous souls should tread the regal paths
Trodden once by mighty kings and their proud consorts.
Behind the facade of love my dear, you had better seen,
The marks of imperial might that herein lie screen’d
You who take delight in tombs of kings deceased,
Should have seen the hutments dark where you and I did wean.
Countless men in this world must have loved and gone,
Who would say their loves weren’t truthful or strong?
But in the name of their loves, no memorial is raised
For they too, like you and me, belonged to the common throng.
These structures and sepulchres, these ramparts and forts,
These relics of the mighty dead are, in fact, no more
Than the cancerous tumours on the face of earth,
Fattened on our ancestor’s very blood and bones.
They too must have loved, my love, whose hands had made,
This marble monument, nicely chiselled and shaped
But their dear ones lived and died, unhonoured, unknown,
None burnt even a taper on their lowly graves.
This bank of Jamuna, this edifice, these groves and lawns,
These carved walls and doors, arches and alcoves,
An emperor on the strength of wealth, Has played with us a cruel joke.
Meet me hence, my love, at some other place.
Translation by K.C. Kanda, appeared in “Masterpieces of Urdu Nazmâ€, published by Sterling Publishers Pvt. Ltd. - found here
August 29th, 2007 at 11:59 am
Interesting read.
I would like to share another ghazal written from the king’s perspective. Can be found on Bayaaz - Taj mahal.
August 29th, 2007 at 3:34 pm
Fascinating! Raza, I thank you for the translations you provide to some of the most amazing Urdu/Arabic/Persian(?)poetry. I will now check out this lyricist.
The poem’s sentiment rings so true…afterall how many of us can raise edifices such as the Taj Mahal as a declaration of our love, no matter how deep felt, true, and long lasting it may be!
Alas, the Taj Mahal, beautiful beyond doubt, is but a material manifestation
August 29th, 2007 at 5:25 pm
Asma: thanks for the comment - but I cannot open the link
Id: Yes it is a lovely poem - Sahir is a major poet of the twentieth century who also composed several lyrics for Bollywood.
You are right about the interpretation. Despite its sheer magic, the Taj was an Emperor’s fancy and a material manifestation..
Love, I suppose has much more to it than..
August 29th, 2007 at 6:23 pm
WOnderful translation, you really have a knack for finding some marvelous translations of poetry.
August 29th, 2007 at 6:25 pm
‘Love’… no doubt defies all definition and cannot be encapsulated by an edifice, literature, or even art, but its existence is what makes us who we are and also brings meaning to our otherwise mechanical and materialistic lives. Sometimes I wonder why we humans are forever trying to immortalize this emotion into something concrete something tangible…
August 29th, 2007 at 7:54 pm
It’s an interesting coincidence that just as we are discussing ‘Love’, I’m reading an interesting novel on the same subject: “Tolstoy Lied- A Love Story” by Rachel Kadish; I’ll be posting on that shortly and I look forward to your views on that.
August 30th, 2007 at 5:24 am
This should definitely help acquaint those who do not understand Urdu, with a great piece of poetry.
September 4th, 2007 at 4:17 pm
You are right about the interpretation. Despite its sheer magic, the Taj was an Emperor’s fancy and a material manifestation..
Love, I suppose has much more to it than..
December 17th, 2007 at 1:13 am
Raza, here is a poem by Sahir Ludhianvi (1921-1980)
MARKET PLACE
Those poems that once i wrote for you
I’ve brought today into the market place.
Today they will go to the highest bidder,
the songs through which our love found meaning.
Everything is measured now on silver scales,
my thoughts, my poetry, my emotions.
Poverty has turned to commodity
the songs that were as priceless as our love.
Hunger demands a few vrumbs and necessities,
instead of blossoming image of your face.
Look, in this age of capital and labour
my songs are not my own.
Those poems that once I wrote for you
I’ve brought today into the market place !
October 27th, 2008 at 7:04 pm
Sahir saheb showing the real fase of TAJ MAHAL. Historical Fact.