Yeh Ishq Hai Lyrics from Rangoon: The song is sung by Arijit Singh and composed by Vishal Bhardwaj with lyrics written by Gulzar. It is an intense love song which will take your breath away and take you to Vishal Bhardwaj’s magical world of music, cinema & poetry.
Mr and mrs 55.salute! I am a 30something londoner, bong, joining the dots.and your blog is just merking it to use some london slang. I was heavily involved in a lot of the asian underground stuff that was coming out of lndon in the 90s’ 00s, and trained for many years in tabla and vocal. But my hindi is poor-being a londoner. And a bong at that.
So, this website is heaven and the mughal e azam quawaali and this detailed quawaali are just extraordinary. I spent some time at Harvard on exchange from oxford and i wish we had overlapped so i could have saluted you guys personally. Please don’t stop Arnab. Beautiful Qawwalli and truly mother of all qawwallis. Very well translated. Even though, sher or shayaris can be interpreted by each in their own way, I am pointing to the sher: Mere shauq-e-khaana-kharaab ko, teri reh-guzar ki talaash hai. I would interpret shauq-e-khaana-kharaab (as this should be read as 2 words in conjunction), as wretched love.
Shauq also means love in urdu and khaana-kharaab is one word which means wretched. I would also interpret meri umrbhar ki talaash hai as “My never ending quest”, but then the meaning doesn’t change much here. Naaz-o-andaaz se kehte hain: Here, the poet is refering to his beloved and says, “How gracefully you are telling me to live and then you offer me poison to drink” Some of my own views on this qawwali.
A great work and I am sure you have spent hours translating this best of the best shayari, which in itself is not an easy task. Fantastic site on yesteryear movies. Looks like there are more of our kind out there.
Really appreciate your efforts to put up all the meanings et al. Love your description of the song and the situation too. You got a follower in me now. By the way, the meaning of “Sarmad” and “Mansoor” though correct in literal translation however Sahir Saab here alludes to two Sufi Saints by the name of Sufi Sarmad of Delhi and Mansoor Hallaj of Iraq, both of them were martyred by the so-called religious fundamentalists of that time. Both of them were intoxicated with love and in their extreme stage had proclaimed that “I am the truth.” Anyways, keep up the good work.
Thank you so much for this Qawwali and the translation. It’s amazing how multiple points of view and translation can contribute to a more holistic understanding of such a multi-layered and profound composition. Too bad they dont make them like this anymore.
I learned so MUCH especially from the Shama-Mehfil line. My reason for looking up this translation was to find the meaning for Shouq-e-Khaana Kharaab and Chaaragar. Google translate does a bad job of these (or rather no job at all). Oh and also Rasn-o-Daar. Thanks to the user Syed who gave the meaning for that too. I have a couple of suggestions to further perfect this translation. Hopefully, you’ll incorporate my meek request: Bhari mehfil mei.N koi shamaa yaa parvaana ho jaaye is essentially a line that says there is one of two fates of everyone in the gathering that is to either become the moth that is burned by the flame or the flame that burns until it dies out.
Vehshat-e-Dil is “Savagery of the Heart” which is essentially the untamed yearning of the heart. Aap hii dharm hai aur aap hii imaan hai ishq is best translated as “Ishq is in itself both duty and in itself the faith” the word “aap” here is a very super formalized way of addressing a third person without saying “yeh” or “woh” but “aap” as in the English “His Esteem” or “His Greatness” or “His Excellency” or “Her Highness” etc. Jis se aage nahii.N shekh-o-Brahaman dono.N, is actually Jis Se “Aagaah” Nahin. The word “Aagaah” means to be aware.
It means the “sheikh” as in the Muslim priest (Imaam) and Brahmin (the urdu style is Barahman) aren’t aware of that which is the thunderous proclamation (p.s. I LOVED the choice of words “thunderous proclamation” that you used here. It was a pure delight to me).
Also, I greatly applaud you for bringing together Radha, Sita and Meera in your translation. Beautifully done! What an unsurpassed feat by the lyricist too! Yaanii hafeez ishq hai, Quraan ishq hai should be Yaani Hadith Ishq Hai, Quraan Ishq Hai. Hadith are the collection of quotes attributed to Prophet Mohammed.
Hafeez is just a common name and would be irrelevant in comparison to the Quraan. Once again, a MILLION thanks for this translation! I submitted this message several days ago, but it disappeared into hyperspace I suspect due to the weblinks I had attached.
I’ve now omitted these so hopefully my message should appear I had promised to return and post a supplementary comment but reneged on the deal due to my absentmindedness. In the meantime, Imran has comprehensively and eloquently covered most of the points I had hoped to raise, although I’m in divergence with the word “aagaah” and his translation of the word as aware. In my opinion the word is aagah and should be translated as sin (at Platts online Urdu/Hindi dictionary type in agah and check instances 6 and 7). This is both logical and lucid considering the prior statements in the sher and what follows thereafter. Previously, we’re told the “Dharam” (of a Hindu) and the “Imaan” (of a Muslim) is in essence a derivative of Ishq. To wit, Dharam and Imaan are the key article of faith of Hinduism and Islam respectively, forming the foundational base from which each act of worship derives.
Furthermore, Salah and Pooja are devotional acts performed to please the Almighty and endear us to Him, but essentially emanate from our love and affection for Him. I posit this is further qualified by the next sentence which alludes to the devotion of the Sheikh and the Brahmin to their article of faith; a “thunderous proclamation” as you wonderfully state, that Ishq is not at all sinful. This underlying message is continuously reinforced via evidence and the juxtaposition of platonic dogma and carnal sensualism. The overarching philosophy is everybody is in love and is capable of loving and for mankind to repel all fears and reservations about love and commit to it wholeheartedly. Indeed, this borrows heavily from a core philosophical concept of Sufism, in which love of every permutation (e.g. Beloved, parental and fraternal) is fundamentally love for the Creator. This idea also extends to poetry in which expressed love and desire for a beloved, is viewed in an abstract sense as a desire to be one again with the Creator.
Additionally, I tepidly disagree with your translation of “Yeh Kaayanaat jism hai aur jaan ishq hai”. I submit this should be translated as follows: Our existence is merely material and its spirit is love, or This universe is merely material and its life-force is love My postulation is grounded in the concept of Creationism which proposes God created the universe and man, giving both a vivid, material form. Via His divine power He endowed everything with life, thereby bestowing it a purposeful function. For humankind this core function is essentially to love, obey and worship God in accordance with His commandments, as detailed by His Prophets. The last line of the qawwali “Intahaa yeh hai ke bande ko khuda karta hai ishq” is also mistranslated I feel and should read as: In conclusion the point is God Loves His devotees/the obedient/His slaves (take your pick) Throughout the final stanza we’re consistently told about God’s beneficence and what he has done for his creation.
And previously, we’ve been told about mankind’s devotion to God. This final point now ties all these concepts together and proclaims that God too loves; indeed, He loves His creation. Moreover, it is natural for mankind to love considering God lovingly created us and has much love for us.
Logically, as His creation we too are compelled to be in love – in whichever form – in a deterministic manner. Conversely, translation rarely if ever can give a precise definition of the original text but if we translate and read each line in isolation the problem is exponentially compounded and the original message becomes terribly confused. However, if we read the translated verses as an integrated statement it can and does make a lot more sense. Finally, I noticed some minor errors in the write-up which you may want to correct at your convenience. Jaan ajaan ka maan bhulaa ke – Jaan ajaan ka dhyaan bhulaa ke (slightly changes the meaning) Janak dulaari ban ban Doli – Haaye ban ban doli janak dulaari (incorrect order of words) Pii gayii vishh ka pyaalaa aur phir araj kari – Pii gayi bis ka pyaalaa aur phir araj kari ke (purely semantics here as vishh and bis both translate as poison – check Platts dictionary for “Bis”).
You are right in saying that this is the mother of all qawwalis or so I feel as well. I am very happy to see such a great post on my favorite qawwali. However, I have two objections; actually one about the original post and the other is about some comments (one comment by altaf sahab in particular). Objection about the post: When talking about a qawwali of this magnitude, you are doing artists a bit injustice by not crediting what the source is. While Roshan sahab was a great composer, this qawwali, or another version of it has also been sung by Fateh Ali Khan (Nusrat sahab’s waalid) & Mubarak Ali Khan (given his age, I would not be surprised to find out that this particular qawwali came before Barsaat ki raat version). Nusrat sahab has sung this as well. That version is known as ‘Na to butkade ki talab’.
Rahat sung this during a performance show in India where he also said that he has heard this like no one else can sing it (you may youtube all three versions). I also have doubts how much of it is written by Sahir sahab. This brings me to the next objection. Altaf sahab has made a claim about sarmad and mansoor.
While that seems genuine, I would really like some citation to this. I have read on internet that the original version may have been written by Bulleh Shah but alas without any reference. I hope I don’t come across as an arrogant person. It is just that I would like to know about this as much as I can. Na to caravan ki talash hai from Barsaat ki raat (1960) with lyrics by Sahir Ludhianvi and music by Roshan. I know I said ‘in no particular order’ but this is my most favourite filmi qawwali. 12 minutes long and sung by Manna Dey, Rafi, Asha Bhosle, Sudha Malhotra and SD Batish. A competition between two gharanas around the theme of love – put together by my favourite lyricist, the song refers to Radha-Krishna and Meerabai on one hand, and Laila-Majnu, and Amir Khusrau’s poems on the other. Read more about this song and its translation here. Dear Mr&Mrs55 Thank you for a wonderful translation of an amazing piece of art.
Thanks to your blog, I got to understand so many words and phrases of which I had no clue whatsoever (shauq-e-khana kharaab, jaan-soz, rasn-o-daar, Koh-i-toor, to name a few). I am now able to appreciate and enjoy the piece even more.
Thank you once again. Your passion for this qawwali comes through very clearly. Another admirable quality of your blog is your willingness to incorporate suggestions and make the translation more and more accurate. To that end, I would also like to offer a few comments for your consideration: 1) Vehshat-e-dil rasn-o-daar se roki na gayi: I think here, vehshat-e-dil (madness of the heart) refers to the craziness of love itself. So this line should perhaps translate as: Love is crazy; it is not stopped by ropes nor by the gallows. 2) I think the second line of the verse “Sahar tak sab ka hai anjaam” starts with “Bhale mehfil. ” rather than “Bhari mehfil.”.
It is very difficult to be absolutely certain about this by listening to the audio because this line is not repeated, but the verse does become more meaningful by using “Bhale mehfil”. 3) I would tend to agree with Imran that the word is perhaps “aagah” and not “aage” in “Jis se aage nahii.N shekh-o-Brahaman dono.N” Warm regards. Can’t describe my happinessI have been waiting for more than 30 years for someone to do justice to all the underpinnings of this songit needs mastery of three cultures.no mean taskAdd to it the perfect musical changes suiting the various moods of the song by maestro Roshanand the singers.omgManna Dey and Asha Bhonsale have sung perfectly but you need to hear this song to realize why there will never be a Rafi againI have become a big fan Mr&Mrs55I am taking the liberty of posting this on my FB wall! Hi Great to see this qawwali translated.
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Been a great fan of this qawwali. I see you already have many feedbacks, but then that is to be expected. Great explanation of this superb qawwali. However, I would like to point to a few places which didn’t seem to convey the correct meaning to me: Jo davaa ke naam pe zehar de should be “One who gives poison in the disguise of medicine”. Also, “Haaye ban ban Doli Janak dulaari, Pehenke prem ki maalaa” should be “the darling daughter of King Janak (Sita) wandered in the forests wearing a garland of love (due to her love)”. I believe “ban ban” meaning forests was missing from the translated line.
Thanks for this lovely post! Cheers, Naman.
Yeh Ishq hai from Rangoon is about how one looks at love in its truest form. The chorus echoes that “This is love”, constantly reminding himself that this is its essence.
Gulzar compares their love to the relationship between a Sufi and his tobacco. Though some Sufi’s smoked tobacco, it wasn’t accepted by their community. Similarly, their love might not have pleased many, but its fire, even after dying, always reminded them of something that had been beautiful.
The flames kept burning despite being dowsed. WORD- Sulfe- Tobacco usually smoked in a Huqqa. Aatish- Flame.
Yeh Ishq hai from Rangoon is about how one looks at love in its truest form. The chorus echoes that “This is love”, constantly reminding himself that this is its essence. Gulzar compares their love to the relationship between a Sufi and his tobacco. Though some Sufi’s smoked tobacco, it wasn’t accepted by their community. Similarly, their love might not have pleased many, but its fire, even after dying, always reminded them of something that had been beautiful.
The flames kept burning despite being dowsed. WORD- Sulfe- Tobacco usually smoked in a Huqqa. Aatish- Flame. Love remains ecstatic. He wonders what sort of mystic is this? One that cannot decide what it wants. It oscillates between acting like Tabrizi and Rumi.
Tabrizi when awake and Rumi when spoken about. FACT- Shams Tabrizi was a Persian scholar and the spiritual instructor of the mystic poet, Rumi. Tabrizi was nicknamed Shams (Sun) because of his fiery nature but showed Rumi the light. Rumi on the other hand was very calm in his approach. Hence Gulzar suggests that Love, when spoken about seems very peaceful and wonderful. But when love is truly awakened, it becomes intense like fire. WORD- Bekhud- Esctatic.
Love remains ecstatic. He wonders what sort of mystic is this? One that cannot decide what it wants. It oscillates between acting like Tabrizi and Rumi. Tabrizi when awake and Rumi when spoken about. FACT- Shams Tabrizi was a Persian scholar and the spiritual instructor of the mystic poet, Rumi. Tabrizi was nicknamed Shams (Sun) because of his fiery nature but showed Rumi the light.
Rumi on the other hand was very calm in his approach. Hence Gulzar suggests that Love, when spoken about seems very peaceful and wonderful. But when love is truly awakened, it becomes intense like fire. WORD- Bekhud- Esctatic.
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