Dagh Dehlvi

داغ دہلوی

1831–1905 · Post-1857 (Delhi, Rampur, Hyderabad)

A pupil of Zauq, Dagh became the most sought-after ustad of his time; Iqbal was among his pupils by correspondence. His ghazals are famous for their lively, idiomatic Urdu.

How to read Dehlvi

Dagh's art is in the idiom. Many lines turn on a turn of phrase you would hear in conversation, set so smoothly into the metre that you do not notice the craft.

Couplets in the course (3)

اردو ہے جس کا نام ہمیں جانتے ہیں داغؔ

سارے جہاں میں دھوم ہماری زباں کی ہے

urduu hai jis kaa naam hamiiñ jaante haiñ daagh

saare jahaañ meñ dhuum hamaarii zabaañ kii hai

The language that is called Urdu: we alone truly know it, Dagh;

our tongue's fame has spread through all the world.

Dagh DehlviMuzāre' musamman akhrab makfūf mahzūfmaqtaBeginnerTa'alli (poet's boast)

خوب پردہ ہے کہ چلمن سے لگے بیٹھے ہیں

صاف چھپتے بھی نہیں سامنے آتے بھی نہیں

khuub pardaa hai ki chilman se lage baiThe haiñ

saaf chhupte bhii nahiiñ saamne aate bhii nahiiñ

A fine sort of veiling: sitting pressed against the screen,

neither properly hidden, nor coming out in front.

Dagh DehlviRamal musamman makhbūn mahzūfsherBeginnerTazaad (antithesis)

نہ جانا کہ دنیا سے جاتا ہے کوئی

بہت دیر کی مہرباں آتے آتے

na jaanaa ki dunyaa se jaataa hai koii

bahut der kii mihrbaañ aate aate

You did not realise that someone was leaving the world;

kind one, you took so long in coming.

Dagh DehlviMutaqārib musamman sālimsherBeginnerTikraar (repetition)Tanz (irony)