{"id":289,"date":"2010-02-14T00:39:26","date_gmt":"2010-02-13T19:09:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/kashmirnetwork.com\/justju\/?p=289"},"modified":"2026-10-02T08:38:32","modified_gmt":"2026-10-02T03:08:32","slug":"return-to-the-land-of-poems","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kashmirnetwork.com\/justju\/?p=289","title":{"rendered":"Return to The Land of Poems"},"content":{"rendered":"

Kashmir is famous for the lol*<\/b><\/i> of Zooni, its poetess-queen, and Arnimal<\/b>.
\nRasul Mir<\/b> and Mahjoor<\/b> represent the peak of the romantic era.<\/p>\n

hatyuk rath bu kadha,
\nnaman tas bu malha,
\nhekya baar temkui,
\nsu naazuk athanh peth<\/i><\/p>\n

This kashmiri couplet was narrated to me years ago by the late Mohiuddin Shah<\/b>, one of the most outstanding bureaucrats that Kashmir has produced. There is a bit of history associated with it, which I may relate at a later date. Meanwhile, permit me to attempt a translation:<\/p>\n

If I slit my throat
\nto paint my beloveds' nails
\nWould she bear the strain
\non her delicate hands?<\/i><\/p>\n

A similar sentiment is echoed in this translation of a Kashmiri poem by Marion Doughty<\/b>, an English traveller to the valley.<\/p>\n

O that my blood were water, thou athirst !
\nAnd thou and I in some far desert land,
\nHow would I shed it gladly, if but first
\nIt touched thy lips before it reached the sand. <\/i><\/p>\n

Urdu poetry is a goldmine of romantic imagery. Ghalib<\/b> is said to have offered his Diwan<\/i> in exchange for this couplet by his rival Momin<\/b>.<\/p>\n

tum mere paas hote ho goya
\njab koi doosra nahin hota.<\/i><\/p>\n

Then there is Ibn-e-Insha<\/b> and his Farhad-meets-Freud ballad, Farz Karo<\/i><\/b>.<\/p>\n

farz karo hum ahl-e-wafaa ho
\nfarz karo deewane ho
\nfarz karo yeh dono baatein
\njhooti ho afsane hon
\nfarz karo yeh ji ki bipta
\nji se jor sunai ho
\nfarz karo abhi aur ho itni
\naadhi humne chhupai ho
\nfarz karo tumhe khush karne ke
\ndhoonde humne bahaane ho
\nfarz karo yeh nain tumhare
\nsach-much ke maikhaane ho
\nfarz karo yeh rog hai jhoota,
\njhooti preet hamari ho
\nfarz karo is preet ke rog mein
\nsaans bhi hum pe bhaari ho
\nfarz karo yeh jog bijog ka
\nhumne dhong rachaaya ho
\nfarz karo bas yahi haqeeqat
\nbaqi sab kuch maaya ho<\/i><\/p>\n

How about the great revolutionary poet Faiz Ahmed Faiz<\/b><\/i> with Teri Samundar Ankhon Mein<\/b><\/i>.<\/p>\n

ye dhoop kinara, sham dhale
\nmilte hain dono waqt jahan,
\njo raat na din, jo aaj na kal,
\npal bhar ko amar,
\npal bhar mein dhuan,
\nis dhoop kinare, pal do pal,
\nhonton ki lapak,
\nbaahon ki chanak,
\nye mel hamara jhoot na sach,
\nkyon raaz karo, kyun dosh dharo,
\nkis kaaran jhooti baat karo,
\njab teri samundar aankhon mein,
\nis shaam ka sooraj doobega,
\nsukh soenge ghar dar wale,
\naur raahi apni raah lega<\/i><\/p>\n

Let me dedicate the last poem to my wife:<\/p>\n

The Land of Poems** <\/b>
\nFor just one glimpse of you,
\nThe rosebud of your street
\nHas bloomed anew !
\nNo songbird there to greet
\nYour rose, which blooms alone,
\nBut in that land
\nOf poems, where have grown
\nMy roses, and I stand
\nWithin the shrine
\nOf secret meanings, hail !
\nHow every verse of mine
\nThe nightingale
\nWill sing, and none destroy
\nThe ecstasy we share,
\nHis house of joy
\nOn heights none others dare. <\/i><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

*‘Lol’ may be considered a Kashmiri form of ‘Lyric’ poetry which expresses personal emotions or feelings, typically spoken in the first person.<\/em><\/p>\n

** Persian Diwan of Mahmud Gami
\n(Translation by Nilla Cram Cook) <\/p>\n

Update: Translations are available here<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Kashmir is famous for the lol* of Zooni, its poetess-queen, and Arnimal. Rasul Mir and Mahjoor represent the peak of the romantic era. hatyuk rath bu kadha, naman tas bu malha, hekya baar temkui, su naazuk athanh peth This kashmiri couplet was narrated to me years ago by the late Mohiuddin Shah, one of the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,3,1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-289","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-kashmir","category-poetry","category-translation"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kashmirnetwork.com\/justju\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/289","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kashmirnetwork.com\/justju\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kashmirnetwork.com\/justju\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kashmirnetwork.com\/justju\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kashmirnetwork.com\/justju\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=289"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/kashmirnetwork.com\/justju\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/289\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1988,"href":"https:\/\/kashmirnetwork.com\/justju\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/289\/revisions\/1988"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kashmirnetwork.com\/justju\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=289"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kashmirnetwork.com\/justju\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=289"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kashmirnetwork.com\/justju\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=289"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}