Kulliyat e Mir

Selected Excerpts:

ASHOBIYA SHIR
Dilli men aj bhik bhi milti nahin unhen
tha kal talak dimagh jinhen taj o takht ka
The people who were proud of their royalty till yesterday:
Today even charity is not given to them
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Sikh, Marathe, nor ueakke shah o gada sab khwahan hain
cain se hain jo kuch nahin rakhte faqr bhi ik daulat hai yan
The Sikhs, Marathas, thieves, sharpers, kings and beggars are eager
Only the haven't are in peace here, faqr is a wealth in this world
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ve Dilli ke kuce hain ab sare khali
khawe se khawe the jahiin roz chilte
These congested streets of Delhi where shoulders were striking shoulders
These cheerful streets now lie abandoned
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ab khardba hu'a Jahanabad
warna har ik qadam pe yan ghar tha
Jahanabad turned into a deserted place
Once it had abodes at each and every step
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Dihli pe rona ata hai karta hun jab nigah
main is kuhan kharabe ki ta`mir ki taraf (Mir Taqi Mir)
When I imagine the rehabilitation of Delhi
I mourn on this wasteland
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dil o Diill donon agar hain kharab
pe kuch lutf is ujre nagar men bhi hai
My heart and Delhi both are disgusted
But a joy is there even in this ruined city
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dida-e giryan hamara nahr hai
dil kharaba jaise Dilli shahr hai
Like a stream are our tear-shedding eyes
And just like the city of Delhi my heart is a wasteland
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dil ki virani kei kya madhkur
yeh nagar sau martaba luta gaya
How I mention the destitution of my heart
This abode for the uncountable times was despoiled
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shahr-e dil ah 'ajab ja'e thi par is ke ga'e
aisa ujra ki kisu tarah basaya na gaya
A wonderful place was the city of heart,
But after her departure
So badly was devastated and could not be rehabilitated.
------------------------------
dil ki abadi ki is had hai ki kharabi ki na puch
jana jata hai ki is rah se lashkar nikla
So terribly plundered are the abode of my heart
It appears a savage army has rushed through it
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jis sar ko ghurur aj hai yan tajwari ka
kal us pe yahin shor hai phir nauha-gari ka
Someone who is proud of his kingship today
Tomorrow will be a cry after his demise
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nam aj ko’i nahin leta hai unhon ka
jin logon ke kal mulk yeh sab zer-e nagin tha
No one mentions the names of those crowned heads
Who were the sovereigns of this land just yesterday
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shahan ki kuhr-e jawahir thi khak-e pa jin ki
inhi ki ankh men phirti sula'iyan dekhi
These kings, the dust from whose feet was regarded as the collyrium
We witnessed their eyes being blinded with needles
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kharaba Dilli ka dah cand bihtar Lakhnau se tha
wahin main kash mar jata sarasima na ata yahan
The wasteland of Delhi was much better than that of Lucknow
Alas I could have died there and not left in distress
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You would not know this age as you did the one before, Mir,
It is not that age now, nor that earth or sky.


SHAHR ASHOB
"in a hundred places people fight over a lip of naan
there is not a mouthful of water nor a spoonful of gruel"
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"... with armed force they brought me to the city,
There my life took such a strange turn; I
had to ask someone for water, someone else for food.
Would that the hour of death had come to rescue me from that circumstance
I feared lest, should I remain living, my reputation be besmirched
Where I should not have gone I went a hundred times,
Weak with hunger, I went there with evil hands [i.e., to steal]
Being needy I went in search of bread.
When I went to a door I heard the exhortations of every saint,
From his mouth I heard every propriety and kindness,
I got eulogies on my nobility for free
And he sent me back in such a state that my strength left me. ..." (verse 5)
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"... Livelihood has become vexatious for all:
The greengrocers lament and the grain-merchants bicker:
And don't even ask the condition of the soldiers
One sells his sword and the other his shield;
Emperor and wazir, all are destitute."

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"... Those who had money are now fakirs [beggars]
Their veins appear on their bodies like lines,
Great and small are all tormented
Thousands of fakirs fall like flies
If they see the likes of a piece of grain. ..."
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... And he whose house I went to of necessity
Was not of the human species but an ass,
When I began to converse he lowered his head,
Graceless and stupid as far as I could see. . . .