Valentine’s Day is around the corner and in search for some magical words, I sent a personal selection of 4 most romantic love letters written by famous artists & authors to an effervescent champion of Urdu literature – Dr. Saif Mahmood – for some playful and love filled Jugalbandi.
‘Jugalbandi’ as you may know, is a duet performance when two soloists of different traditions engage in a playful competition and respond to each other on equal footing.
In this case, Saif chose sentimental verses of Faiz, Jaun Elia, Amjad Islam & Parveen Shakir (accompanied with translation) in response to letters written by Cash, Hemingway, Lafayette and Beethoven.
The magic which follows will make even the most hardened cynics give love another chance. For the rest of us – a throbbing heart is all that we’ll be left with at the end of these words.
Shakir’s couplet in response to Beethoven’s letter to his ‘Immortal Love’
Even in bed my ideas yearn towards you, my Immortal Beloved, here and there joyfully, then again sadly, awaiting from Fate, whether it will listen to us. I can only live, either altogether with you or not at all.
Of your beloved
L
Ever thine. Ever mine. Ever ours
— Beethoven
Is shart pe kheloongi piya pyaar ki baazi,
Jeetoo’n toh tujhe paaoo’n, haaroo’n toh piya teri
— Parveen Shakir
On this condition will I play the game of love,
If I win, I get you ; if I lose, I am yours
Elia’s response to an extract from Hemingway’s letter to Marlene Dietrich
“I can’t say how every time I ever put my arms around you I felt that I was home. Nor too many things. But we were always cheerful and jokers together.
— Hemingway
Apne sabhi giley baja, par hai ye hi ki dilruba !
Mera-tera ma’amla, ishq ke bas ka tha nahin
— Jaun Elia
All our grievances apart, the fact of the matter is this
This relationship of ours, was far beyond love
Amjad Islam Amjad’s response to Marquis de Lafayette letter to his Wife, Madame de Lafayette
“I am in such haste that I know not what I write, but I do know that I love you more tenderly than ever, that the pain of this separation was necessary to convince me how very dear you are to me, and that I would give at this moment half my existence for the pleasure of embracing you again, and telling you with my own lips how well I love you.”
Chehre pe mere zulf ko phailaao kisi din,
kya roz garajte ho, baras jaao kisi din
Raazon ki tarah utro mere dil mein kisi shab
dastak pe mere haath ki khul jaao kisi din
Pedon ki tarah husn ki baarish mein naha loon
baadal ki tarah jhoom ke ghir aao kisi din
Khushboo ki tarah guzro mere dil ki gali se
phoolon ki tarah mujh pe bikhar jaao kisi din
Guzrein jo mere ghar se toh ruk jaayen sitaare
iss tarha meri raat ko chamkaao kisi din
Main apni har ek saans usi raat ko de doon
sar rakh ke mere seene pe so jaao kisi din
– Amjad Islam Amjad
On my face, let your hair loose some day
What’s with this daily thunder, like rain, pour yourself on me someday
Like secrets, go down my heart some night
On the knock of my hand, open yourself someday
Like trees, let me bathe in the shower of beauty
Like clouds, sway and enfold me someday
Like fragrance, pass through the lanes of my heart
Like flowers, spread yourself on me someday
If they cross my house, they should stop
In this way, make my night shine someday
Faiz Ahmed Faiz in response to Cash’s letter to his ‘princess’
We get old and get used to each other. We think alike. We read each others minds. We know what the other wants without asking. Sometimes we irritate each other a little bit. Maybe sometimes take each other for granted.
But once in awhile, like today, I meditate on it and realise how lucky I am to share my life with the greatest woman I ever met. You still fascinate and inspire me. You influence me for the better. You’re the object of my desire, the #1 Earthly reason for my existence. I love you very much.
Happy Birthday Princess.
John
Tum jo na aaye thay toh har cheez vohi thim ke jo hai
aasmaa’n hadd-e-nazar, rahguzar rahguzar, sheesha-e-mai, sheesha-e-mai
Aur ab – sheesha-e-mai, rahguzar, rang-e-falak
rang hai dil ka mere, ‘khoon-e-jigar hone tak’
surmayi rang kabhi, sa’at-e-bezaar ka rang
zard patton ka, khas-o-khaar ka rang
surkh phoolon ka, dehekte hue gulzaar ka rang
zehar ka rang, lahu rang, shab-e-taar ka rang
Aasman, rahguzar, sheesha-e-mai
koi bheega hua daaman, koi dukhti hui rag
koi har-lehza badalta hua aaina hai
Ab jo aaye ho toh thehro ki koi rang, koi rutt, koi shai ek jagah par thehre
phir se ik baar har ik cheez vohi ho, ke jo hai
aasmaa’n hadd-e-nazar, rahguzar rahguzar, sheesha-e-mai, sheesha-e-mai
— Faiz Ahmed Faiz
Before you came everything was just what it is
the sky, as far as you could see, the road just a road, the wineglass just a wineglass
And now, the wineglass, the road, the colour of sky
are colours of my heart, ‘till it oozes blood’
Somewhere, the colour of jasmine, the colour of the joy of meeting
The colour of autumn leaves, and of straws and thorns
The colour of red flowers, and of the blooming garden
The colour of poison, of blood, of the dark night
The sky, the road, the wineglass
As if a drenched veil, a raw nerve, an ever-changing mirror
Now that you have come, stay
So that some colour, some season, some thing, stays still
and, once again, everything becomes just what it is
the sky, as far as you could see, the road just a road, the wineglass just a wineglass
Selection of Urdu Verses and their impromptu translation by Dr. Saif Mahmood
An Advocate of the Supreme Court of India holding a doctorate in Comparative Constitutional Law, Saif Mahmood is a New Delhi-based literary personality, Urdu poetry, literature and culture expert, commentator, critic, translator and rights activist. He speaks and writes on diverse issues, ranging from law to literature and is associated with a number of academic, legal, professional, and literary organisations around the world. Founder of South Asian Alliance for Literature, Art & Culture (SAALARC), he recalls most of Ghalib, Iqbal, and Faiz by heart. He is well-known in India and abroad for enthralling audiences with his passionate recitations, especially of such progressive poets as Faiz, Majaz, Sahir and Jaun Elia. Saif is a frequent face in literary events and television discussions and regularly speaks on varied platforms the world over. His translations of Urdu works into English have appeared in several of prestigious publications. He is currently working on his book on the classical Urdu poets of Delhi being published by Speaking Tiger Books.
Wandering with Chanda 