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https://urdushahkar.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/rsfg-intezaar-e-sahr-bhi-hai-12-22-audio.mp3

Recitation

اِنتظارِ  سحر  بھی  ہے  ۔  رگھوپتی  سہائے  فراقؔ  گورکھپوری

۱۲

وہی  درد  بھی  ہے  دوا  بھی  ہے  وہی  موت  بھی  ہے  حیات  بھی

وہی  عشق  ناوکِ  ناز  ہے  وہی  عشق  سینہ  سپر  بھی  ہے

۱۳

تو  زماں  مکاں  سے  گزر  بھی  جا  تو  رہِ  عدم  کو  بھی  کاٹ  لے

وہ  ثواب  ہو  کہ  عذاب  ہو  کہیں  زندگی  سے  مفر  بھی  ہے

۱۴

جو  گلے  تک  آ  کے  اٹک  گیا  جسے  تلخ  کام  نہ  پی  سکے

وہ  لہو  کا  گھونٹ  اُتر  گیا  تو  سنا  ہے  شیر  و  شکر  بھی  ہے

۱۵

کوئی  اہلِ  دل  کو  کمی  نہیں  مگر  اہلِ  دل  کا  یہ  قول  ہے

ابھی  موت  بھی  نہیں  مل  سکی  ابھی  زندگی  میں  کسر  بھی  ہے

۱۶

بڑی  چیز  دولت  و  جاہ  ہے  بڑی  وسعتیں  ہیں  نصیب  اُسے

مگر  اہلِ  دولت  و  جاہ  میں  کہیں  آدمی  کا  گزر  بھی  ہے

۱۷

یہ  شبِ  دراز  بھی  کٹ  گئی  وہ  ستارے  ڈوبے  وہ  پو  پھٹی

سر  راہ  غفلتِ  خواب  سے  اب  اٹھو  کہ  وقتِ  سحر  بھی  ہے

۱۸

جو  اُلٹ  چکے  ہیں  بساطِ  دہر  کو  اگلے  وقتوں  میں  بارہا

وہی  آج  گردشِ  بخت  ہے  وہی  رنگِ  دورِ  قمر  بھی  ہے

۱۹

نہ  غمِ  عذاب  و  ثواب  سے  کبھی  چھیڑ  فطرتِ  عشق  کو

جو  ازل  سے  مستِ  نگاہ  ہے  اُسے  نیک  و  بد  کی  خبر  بھی  ہے

۲۰

وہ  تمام  شکر  و  رضا  سہی  وہ  تمام  صبر  و  سکوں  سہی

تو  ہے  جس  سے  مائل  امتحاں  وہ  فرشتہ  ہے  تو  بشر  بھی  ہے

۲۱

نہ  کہو  تغافلِ‌  حسن  سے  کوئی  کار  سازیٔ  غم  کرے

کہ  جو  آج  غم  سے  نکل  گئی  وہ  دعا  خرابِ  اثر  بھی  ہے

۲۲

ترے  غم  کی  عمرِ  دراز  میں  کئی  انقلاب  ہوئے  مگر

وہی  طولِ  شامِ  فراقؔ  ہے  وہی  اِنتظارِ  سحر  بھی  ہے

इंतेज़ार-ए-सहर भी है – रघुपती सहाय फ़िराक़ गोरखपूरी

१२

वही दर्द भी है दवा भी है वही मौत भी है हयात भी

वही इश्क़ नावक-ए नाज़ है वही इश्क़ सीना-सिपर भी है

१३

तू ज़माँ मकाँ से गुज़र भी जा तू रह-ए अदम को भी काट ले

वो सवाब हो के अज़ाब हो कहीं ज़िंदगी से मफ़र भी है

१४

जो गले तक आ के अटक गया जिसे तल्ख़-काम न पी सके

वो लहू का घूँट उतर गया तो सुना है शीर-ओ-शकर भी है

१५

कोई अहल-ए दिल को कमी नहीं मगर अहल-ए दिल का ये क़ौल है

अभी मौत भी नहीं मिल सकी अभी ज़िंदगी में कसर भी है

१६

बढी चीज़ दौलत-ओ-जाह है बढी वुस’अतें हैं नसीब उसे

मगर अहल-ए दौलत-ओ-जाह में कहीं आदमी का गुज़र भी है

१७

ये शब-ए दराज़ भी कट गई वो सितारे डूबे वो पौ फटी

सर-ए राह ग़फ़्लत-ए ख़्वाब से अब उठो के वक़्त-ए सहर भी है

१८

जो उलट चुके हैं बिसात-ए दहर को अगले वक़्तों में बारहा

वही आज गर्दिश-ए बख़्त है वही रंग-ए दौर-ए क़मर भी है

१९

न ग़म-ए अज़ाब-ओ-सवाब से कभी छेढ फ़ितरत-ए इश्क़ को

जो अज़ल से मस्त-ए निगाह है उसे नेक-ओ-बद की ख़बर भी है

२०

वो तमाम शुक्र-ओ-रज़ा सही वो तमाम सब्र-ओ-सुकूँ सही

तू है जिस से मा’एल-ए इम्तेहाँ वो फ़रिश्ता है तो बशर भी है

२१

न कहो तग़ाफ़ुल-ए हुस्न से कोई कार-साज़ी-ए ग़म करे

के जो आज ग़म से निकल गई वो दुआ ख़राब-ए असर भी है

२२

तेरे ग़म की उम्र-ए दराज़ में कई इंक़लाब हुए मगर

वही तूल-ए शाम-ए फ़िराक़ है वही इंतेज़ार-ए सहर भी है

Click here for background and on any passage for word meanings and explanatory discussion. raghupati sahay firaq gorakhpuri (1896-1982) pre-eminent urdu shaa’er, scholar of farsi and sanskrit. Was nominated to Indian Civil Service but chose to participate in the freedom movement. After independence he chose an academic career, teaching English at Allahabad University. firaq composed four Ghazal (already posted on urdushahkar) in the style of mir taqi mir and five in the style of Ghalib. He freely swings between mystic, romantic and social themes.

raghupati sahay firaq gorakhpuri (1896-1982) pre-eminent urdu shaa’er, scholar of farsi and sanskrit.  Was nominated to Indian Civil Service but chose to participate in the freedom movement.  After independence he chose an academic career, teaching English at Allahabad University.  firaq composed four Ghazal (already posted on urdushahkar) in the style of mir taqi mir and five in the style of Ghalib.  He freely swings between mystic, romantic and social themes.

1.death 2.life 3.arrow 4.elegance, coquetry 5.shielding the chest/heart

That same ishq mystical love is both the pain and the cure/salve/balm; it is both death and life (rejuvenation).  That same ishq is the arrow of coquetry (that can kill); it is also the shield that protects the heart.  For the mystic, the pain of love itself is the cure and fanaa annihilation results in merger with the divine spirit, hence rejuvenation.

1.time 2.space 3.pass through/beyond 4.path 5.non-existence 6.traverse, go through 7.reward 8.punishment, curse 9.escape, refuge

Here tu could be the poet addressing himself or all of humanity.  He is presenting a sufiyaana point of view.  You may pass through space and time, you may traverse the region of non-being; you may be rewarded or punished; but is there any escape from life!  Whether it is happy (reward) or sad (punishment), whether it is the duality of being and non-being, life is inescapable.

1.throat 2.stuck 3.bitter mouth/throat, frustrated/disappointed person 4.blood 5.gulp 6.milk and sugar

What is the jo that came to the throat and got stuck there which talKh-kaam frustrated person could not swallow.  It could be heartbreaks, traumas, memories, bitter truths; we are left with the choice.  Whatever it is, that one gulp of blood, once it descends past the throat, it is heard that it turns into milk and sugar i.e., sweet and palatable.  Keeping bitterness stuck in the throat does not help.  Accepting it, letting descend can begin the process of healing, turning bitterness to sweetness.

1.people of heart, lovers 2.shortage 3.but 4.word, statement, belief 5.death 6.deficiency

To say ‘koi ahl-e dil ko kami nahiN’ goes agains the grain of all poetic convention, because lovers are portrayed as distraught and destitute like majnuN.  I think that this statement should be interpreted to mean that sincere lovers are satisfied and fulfilled in their genuine love.  They are not wanting for anything.  But they still keep saying/complaining that death is not at hand, they are still alive, and there is a deficiency in their lives.  Is this swipe against poetic convention or is it a sufiyaana thought that nothing can satisfy except fanaa.

1.wealth 2.pomp. glory, status 3.expanse 4.available, fated 5.people of 6.passage, place

Wealth and status are a major asset.  Vast opportunities become available because of it.  But in the lives of the people of wealth and status, is there any room for humans?

1.night 2.long 3.passed 4.sunk, set 5.early light broke out 6.head, beginning 7.path 8.heedlessness, oblivion 9.sleep, dream 10.dawn

This long night has passed, early light is breaking out; it is the beginning of the journey get up from the oblivion of sleep, after all it is dawn.  This straightforward word meaning can be applied to any number of issues including a call for the people of India to rise up against colonialism (if this was written before 1947); or calling upon the dispossessed to rise up against their oppressors; or for the ignorant to rise and become aware of the dawn of knowledge around them.  It is up to the reader to take it in any or many directions.

1.turned over, flipped 2.game board 3.world 4.past 5.many times 6.rotation 7.fate 8.colour, style, way 9.rotation of the moon

bisaat-e dahr ulaTnaa means the game/order of the world has been turned over; there have been major upsets/revolutions.  And these have happened many times in the past.  Today, the poet sees the same turning of fate, the same style of rotation of the moon i.e., he sees the same forces about to bring change/revolution.   Once again, this can be applied to any number of possible changes.  We are left to choose.

1.sorrow (threat of grief) 2.punishment 3.reward 4.tease, disturb 5.nature, character 6.beginning, eternity 7.intoxicated 8.gaze, vision 9.good and evil 10.awareness

The sufi mystic is intoxicated/fascinated with the (mental picture) vision of the divine.  They are oblivious to good and evil.  Do not disturb them with threat of sorrow of reward and punishment.  They do what they do for the pleasure of the act itself … not caring for any reward or punishment.

1.total, head to toe, embodiment 2.gratitude and submission to divine will 3.it may be so 4.patience and composure 5.inclined towards 6.test 7.angel 8.human

In the second misra the word tu is addressed to the divine or to fate.  The person in question the object of testing by the divine or by fate may be an embodiment of gratitude and acceptance, patience and composure; they may be like an angel, but they are also human i.e., do not expect angelic perfection, allow room for transgression.

1.do not ask 2.indifference, neglect 3.beauty, beloved 4.remedy, resolution 5.grief 6.prayer 7.destroyer of 8.effect

This could be about the worldly beloved or about the divine beloved.  In poetic convention the beloved is supposed to be indifferent to the pain of the lover.  The divine is also supposed to be mustaGhnii not in need of anything-complete and contended in itself.  Thus, do not ask, do not expect the beloved to provide a remedy for your grief, because that prayer which escapes the lips today can also be destructive of its own effect/fulfillment.

1.life-span 2.long 3.reversals, revolutions 4.length 5.evening of 6.pen-name, separation 7.waiting 8.dawn

In the long life-span of your grief, there have been many changes/reversals/revolutions but it is still the same long evening of separation, the same anticipation of dawn.  Here firaaq and sahar can be given a romantic interpretation or taken in a social-political meaning.

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