Khwaja Mir Dard

Khwaja Mir Dard was born in 1721 and died in 1785. He is one of the three major poets of the Delhi School—the other two being Mir Taqi Mir and 'Sauda'—who could be called the pillars of the classical Urdu ghazal.

Dard was first and foremost a mystic, a prominent member of the Naqshbandi Mujaddidi order, and the head of the Muhammadi path (tariqah muhammadiyah, a Mujaddidi offshoot) in Delhi. He regarded the phenomenal world as a veil of the eternal Reality, and this life as a term of exile from our real home. Dard inherited his mystical temperament from his father,Khwaja Muhammad Nasir Andalib, who was a mystic saint and a poet, and the founder of the Muhammadi path.

Dard received his education in an informal way at home, and in the company of the learned, acquiring in due course a command of Arabic and Persian, as also of Sufi lore. He also developed a deep love of music, possibly, through his association with singers and qawaals who frequented his father's house. He renounced earthly pleasures at the young age of 28, and led a life of piety and humility.

The secret of Dard's appeal as a poet lies not in his mysticism, but in his ability to transmute this mysticism into poetry, and to present transcendental love in terms of human and earthly love. Although he has written ghazals which are unambiguously mystical in their intent, his best couplets can be read at both the secular and spiritual levels, and are, for this reason, acceptable to all and sundry. In addition, Dard had also written ghazals which deal with a patently sensuous and earthly love, and deserve to be classed with the best poetry of this kind. Dard generally excels in short ghazals of about seven to nine verses, written in comparatively short measures. His style is simple, natural and musical; his content, thoughtful and thought-provoking. His poetry includes a collection of Urdu ghazals and a divan in Persian.

Dard's Persian prose works are extensive, consisting of the Ilm ul Kitab, a 600+ page metaphysical work on the philosophy of the Muhammadi path, and the Chahar Risalat, collections of more than a thousand mystical aphorisms and sayings.

doston dekha tamasha yahan ka bas.

tum raho ab hum to apne ghar chale

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Mera jee hai jab tak, teri justaju hai,
Zabaan jab talak hai, yahi aarzoo hai.

Tamanna teri hai, agar hai tamanna,
Teri aarzoo hai, agar aarzoo hai.

Kiya sair sab hum gulzaar-e-duniya,
Gul-e-dosti main ajab rang-o-boo hai.

Nazar mere dil ki padi ‘dard’, kis par,
Jidhar dekhta hoon, wahi ru-ba-ru hai.

-Hazrat Khwaja Meer ‘Dard’

tohmaten chand apne zimme dhar chale
jis liye aye the so ham kar chale

zindagi hai ya koi tufan hai
ham to is jine ke hathon mar chale

kya hamain kam is gulon se ai saba
ek dam aye idhar udhar chale

dosto dekha tamasha yan ka sab
tum raho khush ham to apne ghar chale

ah bas ji mat jala tab janiye
jab koi afsun tera us par chale

shama ki manind ham is bazm main
chashm-nam aye the daman-tar chale

dhundte hain ap se usko pare
sheikh sahib chor ghar bahar chale

ham jahan main aye the tanhawale
sath apne ab use lekar chale

jun sharar ai hasti-e-bebud yan
bare ham bhi apni bari bhar chale

ek main dil resh hun waisa hi dost
zakhm kitnon ka suna hai bhar chale

ham na jane paye bahar ap se
wo bhi are a gaya jidhar chale

saqiya yan lag raha hai chal chalo
jab talak bas chal sake sagar chale

"Dard" kuch malum hai ye log sab
kis taraf se aye the kidhar chale

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tujhi ko jo yan jalwa farma na dekha
barabar hai duniya ko dekha na dekha

mera guncha-e-dil hai woh dil-girifta
k jis ko kaso ne kabhi wa na dekha

aziat, musibat, malamat, balayen
tere ishq main ham ne kya kya na dekha

kiya mujh ko dagon sarw-e-chiragan
kabho tu ne akar tamasha na dekha

tagaful ne tere ye kuch din dikhaye
idhar tu ne lekin na dekha, na dekha

hijab-e-rukh-e-yar the ap hi ham
khuli ankh jab, koi parda na dekha

shab-o-roz aye "Dard" darapai hun us ke
kaso ne jise yan samjha na dekha

tum aj hanste ho hans lo mujh par ye aazmaish na bar bar hogi
main janta hun mujhe khabar hai k kal faza khushgawar hogi

raah-e- muhabbat main zindagi bhar rahegi ye kashamakash barabar
na tumko qurbat main jit hogi na mujhko furqat main haar hogi

hazar ulfat sataye lekin mere iradon se hai ye mumkin
agar sharafat ko tumne chera to zindagi tum pe waar hogi