अपनी हस्तीको गमो-दर्द (Apni Hastii ko Gham-o-Dard) - Shad Azimabadi 'Shaad'

[Urdu Couplet #34]

अपनी हस्तीको ग़मो-दर्द मुसीबत समझो

मौतकी क़ैद लगा दी है ग़नीमत समझो

Apni hastii ko gham-o-dard musibat samjho

Maut ki qaid laga di hai ganiimat samjho

Shad Azimabadi 'Shaad'
(1846-1927) 

हस्ती (hastii) = existence, life; गमो-दर्द (gam-o-dard) = sorrow and pain; मुसीबत (musibat) = trouble; मौत (maut) = death; क़ैद (qaid) = imprisonment, restraint, confinement ; ग़नीमत (ganiimat) = boon, blessing

[English Meaning]

Think of your existence as sorrow, pain and  trouble

Death's confinement has been put, think of it as a boon

Notes:

• The poet has summed up his philosophy about life and death in the verse. He glorifies death as an end to the painful existence. Thus, he considers living as a journey full of troubles that ends only when death comes as a boon to restrain it. The verse also reflects the poet's pessimistic view on the process of living, however, it also reflects his profound views about life & death.

• The word 'qaid': In general usage, the word has a negative tone; a restricting force that stops you from achieving something or that makes you incapable to act. In this verse, this simple word is used in positive sense to portray 'death' as a hero, a saviour, who rescues you from the trouble by the act of imprisoning you in its grip.

About the Poet

Shad Azimabadi 'Shaad' शाद अज़ीमाबादी 'शाद' was one of the prominent pre-modern poets of the 19th century. He hailed from Bihar; born as Syed Ali Mohammad in Azimabad, which is today's Patna. He wrote under the pen name 'Shaad' and is popularly known as Shad Azimabadi. He was a scholar and poet with exceptional talent. He broke the stereotypes of his times and used new and unique ways of expression in his poetry. The central theme in most of his poems was philosophy, mysticism and ethics. He was given a title of 'Khan Bahadur' by the British government for his prowess as a poet and an intellectual.

औसान वो कहां हैं (Ausaan Wo Kahan Hain) -- Bahadur Shah Zafar

[Urdu Couplet #33]

थे कल जो अपने घर में, मेहमान वो कहां हैं

जो खो गए हैं यारब, औसान वो कहां हैं

The kal jo apne ghar me, mehman wo kahan hain

Jo kho gaye hain yarab, ausaan wo kahan hain

Bahadur Shah Zafar
(1775 - 1862)

मेहमान (mehman) = guest; यारब (yarab) = Oh God; औसान (Ausaan) = senses, presence of mind

[English Meaning]

Yesterday those who were in our house, where are those guests

Those that are lost Oh God, where are those senses

or

The guests, who were there in our house yesterday, where are they (now)

Oh, God! The senses that were lost, where are they (now)

Note on possible implied meaning: Keeping in mind the political situation during Bahadur Shah Zafar's era and his helplessness under the patronage of the British rule, this couplet can also have an implied meaning. It can also mean the guests (the British rulers) who entered the house (the country) or the guests who won the trust as friends so much so that the senses of the householder (or the poet/the emperor) were lost forever to make a sound judgement.

About the Poet

Bahadur Shah Zafar (बहादुर शाह ज़फर) was the last Mughal emperor in India. A poet by heart and a ruler by birth, he is famous as one of the prominent poets but faced great difficulties as the ruler under the British rule in India. The British were instrumental in his coronation as an Emperor of Delhi sultanate after the death of his father. However, due his involvement in the 1857 uprising, the first battle for India's Independence, the British turned against. He was seized and imprisoned him. Though he was the Emperor, he never had the freedom to rule and had to function within the limits of the British Empire's patronage. This helplessness reflects in his sensitive poetry. Read More...

मौत माँगू तो मिले (Maut Manguu to Mile) -- Khwaja Hyder Ali 'Aatish'

[Urdu Couplet #28]

मौत माँगू तो मिले आरज़ूए ख़्वाब मुझे 

डूबने जाऊँ तो दरिया मिले पायाब मुझे 

Maut manguu to mile arzoo-e-khawab mujhe

dubane jaaun to dariya mile payaab mujhe

Khwaja Hyder Ali 'Aatish'
(1778 - 1847)

मौत (Maut) = death; आरज़ूए ख़्वाब (arzoo-e-khawab) = desires to have dreams; डूबना (dubana) = to drown, sink, dip, immerse; दरिया (dariya) = sea; पायाब (payaab) = shallow, not deep or a shoal (in relation with a water body like sea)

[English Meaning]

When I ask for death, I get desires to have dreams 

Even when I go to drown myself, I get a shallow sea

About the Poet

ख्वाजा हैदरअली 'आतिश' Khwaja Hyder Ali 'Aatish' was a 19th century poet, thus a poet from the initial days of the modern Urdu language era. He was a poet from Lucknow in the service of Nawaab Muhammad Ali. He was one of the greatest Lakhnawi  poets of his time and considered as one of the iconic poets in Urdu literature because of his unique style in writing poetry. He use to refrain himself from useless embellishment using heavy vocabulary. His style of poetry was simple and lyrical that had a natural flow. He had an ability to express deep emotions through sensitive and simple compositions.

फ़रिश्तेसे बढ़कर है (Farishte Se Badhkar Hai) -- Altaf Hussain Hali

[Urdu Couplet #03]

फ़रिश्तेसे बढ़कर है इंसान बनना 

मगर इस्स्में लगती है मेहनत ज़ियादा

Farishte se baDhkar hai insaan banna

Magar iss mein lagti hai mehnat ziyada

farishta = angel; insaan = human being; magar = but; mehnat = hardwork; ziyada = more

[English Meaning]

It is better to be a human being than an angel

But that requires more hard work

About the Poet: 
Hali, one of the pioneers of Urdu literature, was from Panipat, Haryana. He was a disciple of Mirza Ghalib and also a social reformer apart from being a poet. He is respectfully called as 'Maulana Khawaja Altaf Hussain Hali'. He is credited to introduce the genre 'biography' in Urdu literature by writing several biographies, including one on Ghalib's life. He was the first poet to put forward a theory that literature needs to be used for social welfare and betterment of the society. His famous work 'Mussadas' talks about the rise and fall of the Muslims and it is still taught in Islamic schools.