Discussion:
[Q]: Detailed meaning of Ghalib's "Aah ko chahiye"
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e***@gmail.com
2014-10-17 04:10:30 UTC
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http://urduwallahs.wordpress.com/2013/02/06/aah-ko-chahiye/
t***@gmail.com
2015-09-10 14:39:54 UTC
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Valleru, it is untranslatable. Most poetry is so - but this is Ghaalib.
A translator can give you general meaning - but meaning is nothing, word choice makes Urdu poetry great. Esp Ghaalib.
Ghaalib never used difficult words - but at word play, he is the master (not was, still is)- and language makes a culture an culture makes a language. Without knowing both meanings are hard to grasp.
You have to be able to understand the connotations behind each word - then Ghaalib will make you cry..
Let me just illustrate one word AAH
aah is like a sigh.
an almost silent lamentation. When you loose something dear a silent cry come out - you can not even lament loudly. imagine your beloved tells you she's going to marry that doctor her dad chose for her.
An aah can shake up Allah's throne - it reaches him and is answered. So it can act like a powerful prayer. They say do not be responsible for a poor person's aah. ghariib ki aah na lo.

Now Ghaalib says even his aah needs a life time to get result. to be answered.
kaon jeeta hai teri zulf ke sar hone tak
who will live till you are finished fixing your hair.

meaning he is impatient for her.. lamenting mourning her absence, she is busy - not giving him immediate attention, even his aahs are ineffective - it seems like a life time - why is his aah not working right away .

do not take so long to take care of things - life is too short.
Imagine some guy telling you, a girl, that.. such beautiful way of saying how much he cares..

Ghazal actually is poetry that a man says to a woman..
t***@gmail.com
2015-09-10 14:55:07 UTC
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In time of Kundan Lal saigal saheb and Surayya ji; there was huge technological and time constraint.
a graphite record had three minutes recording time - you had to finish your business quickly.
Please do not compare the great artists against each other.
I love Mehdi Hasan saheb. "khuli jo aankh to wo thha na wo zamaana thha" kya baat hai incomparable. jawaab nahi.
My gran's favourite was "ab ke ham bichRey to shaayad kabhi"
And Kundan Lal saigal saheb's "Gham diye mustakhil kitna naazuk hai dil" incomparable.
Talat Mehmood "aasman waale teri",
Madam Noor Jahan "mujhhse pehli si mohabbat"..
It is wonderfull to be born in Sub continent where such rich poetry culture and music take birth...
Naseer
2015-09-12 14:00:39 UTC
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Here is a thread from an Urdu poetry forum where this couplet has been discussed in detail.

https://groups.google.com/forum/#!searchin/alt.language.urdu.poetry/aah$20ko$20chaahiye/alt.language.urdu.poetry/cU5h1pd1A5E/6k6aqUnmzuoJ

Naseer
s***@gmail.com
2015-09-14 08:30:54 UTC
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Post by Naseer
Here is a thread from an Urdu poetry forum where this couplet has been discussed in detail.
https://groups.google.com/forum/#!searchin/alt.language.urdu.poetry/aah$20ko$20chaahiye/alt.language.urdu.poetry/cU5h1pd1A5E/6k6aqUnmzuoJ
Naseer
all the explanation have made sher more complicated to understand.
c***@gmail.com
2016-06-29 11:45:23 UTC
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Very nicely put..many a time people come up with all sorts of absurd interpretations of zulf ke sar hone tak...this makes sense..
s***@gmail.com
2016-06-29 12:37:59 UTC
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Post by c***@gmail.com
Very nicely put..many a time people come up with all sorts of absurd interpretations of zulf ke sar hone tak...this makes sense..
Aah ko chahiye ek umr asar hone tak
Kaun jita he tiri umr ke sar hone tak.
I for one fail to understand what AAH has to do with conquering ZULF even after all these explanations.
m***@gmail.com
2016-10-13 14:03:28 UTC
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This is the sweetness of this language.
f***@gmail.com
2016-10-21 19:31:54 UTC
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Aah ko chahiye ek umr asar hone tak.
Here Aah means prayer . Prayer takes time to get answer .
Kaun jeetA hai teri zulf ke sar hone tak.
Here sar does not mean head . Here sar mean finishing or reaching the epitome.
There is a phrase in urdu Maidaan sar kar lena... Means covering the entire ground.
c***@gmail.com
2017-02-16 12:38:36 UTC
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Ashiq ki aah mashooq ke dil me asar to karti hai magar us kelieye ik muddat darkar hai...hume yeh tawaqa nahi keh jab tak teri zulfo tak humari rasai ho tab tak hum zinda rahe ge ya nahi...!!!
1***@gmail.com
2019-10-16 03:56:27 UTC
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Gr8 sudhir..thanks
e***@gmail.com
2020-01-14 09:03:10 UTC
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A lifetime passes before a sigh shows its effects
Who would wait so long to see you fixing the tangles in your hair
A hundred dragon mouths create a net of waves from a single ocean
Oh what a task it is for a drop to turn into a pearl
Love needs patience but lust is restless
What color should my heart be, till it bleeds to death
I know you will not ignore me, but
By the time you know of me, I would have turned to ash
Each drop of dew is aware that it can be destroyed with the rays of the sun
I will survive similarly, till you glance at me
Your glances can bring my life to end
As dancing sparks bring an end of a fun filled gathering
Life is all suffering, Asad, it can be cured with death
The candle burns in many colors till the morning comes
s***@gmail.com
2020-03-16 22:44:23 UTC
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Ah ko chahiye ek umar asar hone tak...
-aashiq ki aah mashooq k dil me pahuch to jati hai magar use ek muddat darkar hoti hai

Kon jeeta hai tere zulf k sar hone tak...
-lekin mujhe ye nahi pata k tere zulfo tak pahuchne tak zinda ragege ya nahi

Hum ne mana k taghaful na karoge lekin...
-jab hamare haal ki khabar tum tak pahuchingi to tum ghaflat nahi karoge

Khaak hojayege hum tum ko khabar hone tak...
-jab tumhe khabar hogi hamara kaam tamam ho jayega

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