Saturday, June 30, 2012

More Mehdi Hassan - "Allah Agar Taufeeq Na De"

We are fortunate that Mehdi Hassan has left us thousands of live and studio recordings of his peerless performances. Even for devoted fans it is not unusual to come across a gem that has never been experienced before. That happened to me today as I was browsing iTunes and saw an unfamiliar live album titled "Mehdi Hassan - EP" that was released in India earlier this year. Here I share the beautiful ghazal "Allah Agar Taufeeq Na De" which is the second recording in that album. The poet is unidentified. The piece is long (34 minutes) but the patience of true fans will be amply rewarded. My appreciation goes out to the person who has posted this on youtube so I can share it in this space. The ghazal's Urdu lyrics below the video have been transcribed by me.



Allah agar taufeeq na dey insaan ke bas ka kaam nahiN
Faizan-e-mohabbat aam sahi irfan-e-mohabbat aam nahiN

Ya Rab yeh maqaam-e-ishq hai kya go deeda-o-dil ka kaam nahiN
Taskeen hai aur taskeen nahiN aaram hai aur aaram nahiN

KyuN mast-e-sharaab-e-aish-o-tarab takleef-e-tawajjoh farmaaiN
Awaz-e-shikast-e-dil hi to hai awaz-e-shikast-e-jaam nahiN

Aana hai jo bazm-e-jaanaN meiN pindaar-e-khudi ko tor ke aa
Aye hosh-o-khirad ke deewane yaN hosh-o-khirad ka kaam nahiN

Zahid ne kuch iss andaaz se pee saaqi kee nigaheN parne lageeN
Mai kash yahee ab tak samjhe thhe shaista-e-daur-e-jaam nahiN

Ishq aur gawara khud kar lay bay shart shikast-e-faash apni
Kuch dil kee bhi un kay saazish hai tanha yeh nazar ka kaam nahiN

Update - May 22nd, 2016:

1) It is always gratifying to read comments on anything I write. Often, in addition to appreciation, you learn something new. A reader corrected the third sh'er and informed me that the correct phrase here is "awaz-e-shikast-e-jaam" not "jaan". From the context "jaam" indeed seems to be the correct word.

2) I don't have confirmation of this from any other source but at least 2 commenters have mentioned that the poet is Jigar Muradabadi.

17 comments:

Anonymous said...

Isnt the tune similar to.. aye kuch abr kuch sharab.. atleast in the beginning.

I think same raag/thaat.

-ashu

Atif Fayaz said...

Sir can you improve the sound quality or upload a better version please as it is one of the terrific ghazal of Khan sahib.

Fawad Zakariya said...

@ashu, I hear a little bit of the similarity but not a lot. I wouldn't be surprised if the thaat is the same.

@Atif, unfortunately this is the best I could find on youtube. I have a slightly better recording that I bought from iTunes but it is still a live recording with a fairly poor sound quality. My tech skills are weak and I have not been able to figure out an easy way to share what I have on my iPod despite Divshare etc. There are a lot of gems I would like to share but I rely on what is available on youtube.

Anonymous said...

This is a very rear ghazal from the Legend Ustaad Mehdi Hassan and was composed live on the stage while singing that's why he says "Filbadi" means composing while singing on the stage in Kuwait 1973. The poet is also Kuwait based "Abdul Hameed Hosh" who also wrote another popular ghazal sang by Ustaad Mehdi Hassan on Pakistan TV "Meri Aanhon Mein Asar Hay K Nahi Deikh To Loon"

Anonymous said...

Also the word in the 2nd antra is "Jaam" not Jaan ...

"Awaaz-e-Shikast-e-Dil hi to Hai Awaaz-e-Shikast-e-Jaam nahi ...

God Bless you for sharing such a rear treat ...

Fawad Zakariya said...

Anonymous, thank you very much for the information. I had been trying to find out who wrote this ghazal. Also, thanks for the correction; jaam indeed makes more sense in this context than jaan.

Atif said...

it has been written by jigar muradabadi in 2 phases, out of which, only one phase is sung by khan sahab.

Unknown said...

@all of you fans of Khan Sahab. I pride myself as being one of his greatest fans, and over the years, have collected thousands of his songs / ghazals / thumris... Thanks particularly to Fawad for posting this. I too, stumbled across this ghazal only a few days ago (thanks to technology) and was wondering why this masterpiece had been missing from Khan Sahab's popular albums. There are a few others like this one, which are not very popular, but, as good as any gem of his e.g. Dekha bhi to unhain door se; dil mein ab yun tere bhoole huay gham...if any of you have some good ones, please drop me an email rafat_khan@hotmail.com. Thanks !!

Gabriel Design said...

It is beautiful and the first couplet was my late father Gyan. Seths favourite....as was. Mehdi Hassan. We are fortunate to have all, including this Ghazals live recordings not available anywhere else as Mehdi Hassan being a personal friend of our fathers use to sing endlessly in our home in the 70s and we are privileged to have heard him and known him.

Anonymous said...
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Pradeep ghosh said...

Grateful to you for writing the lyrics. it is truly a great job well done. It certainly indeed is a great service done to the poet, who has , otherwise remained anonymous. I wonder who she/he is.
Khan Sahab has done FULL justice to the composition. Great man !

Pradeep ghosh said...

Went a bit deeper to discover the poet to be Jigar Morabadi.

Amit said...

It is a true master piece. Can some one translate it from Urdu to Hindi/English...

Smita marawar said...

Jigar muradabadi z d shayar f allah agar taufiq n de

Bint Mohammed Salim said...

With all due respect, this is Jigar Muradabadi's ghazal. It is one of his very famous ghazals.

Bint Mohammed Salim said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Bint Mohammed Salim said...

Peene ko tou sab peete hai Jigar maikhana-e-fitrat mien lekin
Mehroom-e-nigaahien saaqi hai woh rind jo dard ashaam nahin