64. Daanai Posh : Habba Khatoon

This poem is fine example of romantic yearning with emotional imploring.

میہا کٔری ژیی کِتھ پوشہ دسوانۓ

چھاو میٲنی دانۓ پوش

Mea ha ker cheyi kyith poshe daswanai,

Chhaav myein daanai posh.

Daswaan:دسوان: Bracelets

Chhaav:چھاو :Relish

Daanai posh:دانۓ پوش :Flowers presented in offerings 

I adorned myself with the corsages of flowers,

Relish the flowers that I have as offerings.

Explanation:

Daanai posh: Most of the translators have translated it as "Pomegranate blossoms". Phonetically it should have been then "Daen posh" with poetic extension as "Daenai posh". Though many authors have written Daenai posh in Persio-Arabic Script(دٲنۓ پوش) , but none of the singers sing it as Daenai posh. By extension second meaning could be given to it as "Daanaee posh" (دانائی پوش) i.e., "the flowers of wisdom" but neither anywhere is it written so nor anyone sings it this way. Finally it comes to Daanai posh i.e., the extension of Daan as Daanai. Daan means to offer something to diety or higher mortals or God. Daan being Sanskritic word doesn't seem to have flown on normal tongues (Daan is not the word usually used by Kashmiri Muslims). If we go by the rhyming words, Daan, and by extension Daanai seems to be proper word and fits with the poem phonetically, rhythmically and as per the theme. If it were Pomegranate blossoms, "Relish my pomegranate blossoms" doesn't make sense. The last stanza supports my interpretation very well.

I may be wrong but it is what I think after deep comprehension. So I have gone with the translation as "flowers of offerings". Please correct me if I am wrong. In that case I will have to just change last line of every stanza and meaning still remains within the confines of the theme of the poem. 🙃

بو چھسے زمین تے، ژہ چھکھ آسمانے

سیرس ژہ چُکھ سر پوش

بو چھسے نعمت، ژہ چھکھ میزمانے

چھاو میٲنی دانۓ پوش

Bo chhasai zameen tai che chuk aasmanai,

Seeras che chuk sarposh.

Ba chhasai nyamath, che chuk mezmaanai,

Chhaav myein daanai posh.

Sarposh:سر پوش :Lid/Cover

Mezmaan:میزمان :Host

I am the earth and you are the heavens,

You are cloak for the secrets.

I am the blessings, you are the host,

Relish my flowers of offerings.

Explanation:

The poetess portrays herself as a humble, ordinary individual, while elevating the beloved as a figure of nobility, whose stature is further enhanced by serving as the keeper of her secrets. Additionally, she likens herself to a blessings(literally meal courses) something whose value and presentation is increased by the host. If host doesn't adorn them, despite inherently they being good, their value decrease nevertheless. If the beloved embraces and values her love, the poetess suggests, it will not only uplift her own esteem but also enhance the beloved's grace and nobility.

لٲلے گٹہٕ منز ژونگ زاجانۓ

بالے روٗدُس نہ ہوش

ژہ چھُھم شمع، بو چھس پروانۓ

چھاو میٲنی دانۓ پوش

Laelay gatti manz choang za’janai,

Baalay roodus ne hosh.

Che chhaham shama, bo chhes parwanai,

Chhaav myein daanai posh.

Gatti:گٹہٕ :Darkness

Baalay:بالے :Young

Laila lit the lamp in the darkness,

Couldn't comprehend (it's repercussions) because of being young.

You are my candle and I am your moth,

Relish my flowers of offerings.

Explanation:

Poetess equates herself to Laila. She lit the fire of love to illuminate her life but being young i.e., beginner in love she got lost in the charm of it. Now, she is like a moth, ready to burn in the fire of love.

رژھہٕ رژھہٕ ریتہ کول چھُم سورانۓ

برہ ما گژھن اچھہ پوش

کُنہٕ ھیتہ بلبلہٕ یتہٕ اکہ آنۓ

چھاو میٲنی دانۓ پوش

Rachhi rachhi rette-koal chhum soaranai,

Barreh ma gachhan achhe posh.

Kunni heeteh bulbuleh yim akki aanai,

chaav meein daanai hosh.

Soarun:سورُن :To fade away, to exhaust, to spent.

Barreh: برہ:emaciate, wither

Achhe posh: اچھہ پوش:eyebright/eyewort flower

Slowly steadily my summer is fading away,

I fear the withering of eyebright flowers.

O my Nightingale! Grace me with your presence, even if just for a fleeting moment, cloaked in the guise of an excuse.

Relish my flowers of offerings.

Explanation:

Youthfulness is equated to summer. Beauty is equated to Eyebright flowers. Poetess pleads her lover(equated to Nightingale) to come to her life by any excuse lest her resplendent form fades and withers away.

رنگہٕ رنگہٕ تھُری امی کرالان بانۓ

بیٚون بیٚون کورنکھ نقوش

کینہہ دراے ھٔل کٔل کینہہ جانانۓ

چھاو میٲنی دانۓ پوش

Rang rang thuer aem kralan baanai,

Byon byon kornakh naqoosh.

Kenh draai hel kel kenh jaananai,

Chhaav mea daanai posh.

Naqoosh:نقوش: to draw or paint sketches on a vessel.

The potter shaped vessels, each in a different hue,

Added distinct sketches onto them.

Some turned out to be crooked, and some sweethearts,

Relish my flowers of offerings.

Explanation:

This stanza view that though the creation of beings was done variedly by the Creator but some were honoured by love whereas some were debased in absence of love.

بم تے زیرے چھس سوز وایانۓ

ولہٕ نیٕ تھوتھم نہ ہوش

کم کیاہ گوٕہ یو یمہ میٲنہ وانۓ

چھاو میٲنی دانۓ پوش

Bam tai zere chhes soz wayaanai,

Viliniy thovtham ne hosh.

Kam kya gayiyov yemmi myani waanai,

Chhaav mea daanai posh.

Bam te Zer: بم تے زیرے:Zer o Bam of urdu/persian. It connotes emotions when they are high and when they are low.

Viliniy:ولہٕ نیٕ :Plead with submissiveness

I play the passionate tones in a rhythmic way,

Lost in your charm, pleading with submissiveness.

What flaw did you find in my store of love's treasure?

Relish my flowers of offerings.

Explanation:

My heart and soul, in emotions when they are high and when they are subdued, seek you. I have lost myself in pleading submissively for your love. Please tell me if there is any flaw in my treasure trove of love for you that you are inconsiderate to my longings and yearnings.

ژٲرِتھ انی مۓ پھمبہٕ میانۓ

جانانہ میے مو روش

ووج دتھ حبہٕ خوتون ونان پانۓ

چھاو میٲنی دانۓ پوش

Chaerith animai phambe miyaanai,

Janaan mey mo rosh,

Wojj dith Habbe Khotoon wanan paanai,

Chhaav myeen daanai posh.

Phamb: پھمب :Cotton or Wool or Colourful threads used to weave or embroider a shawl. More generally something soft and soothing that protects the thing that is in its confines.

Miyaane: میانۓ: Amidst

Wojj: General longing, eagerness (for something, on account of its rarity, worth, excellence, or the like), high estimation. --Wojj dyun: ووج دیٚون: to enhance the value (of something)

I picked (the flowers) from amidst the cottons,

Sweetheart don't be enraged with me (despite this).

Enhancing (the estimation of beloved), Habba Khatoon is herself saying,

Relish my flowers of offerings.

Explanation:

This stanza is very beautiful in a way that it has added more gentleness to the acts of poetess in pleasing her beloved. Flowers are inherently delicated but poetess says she got the ones that were cuddled amidst the soft surroundings; soft like cotton. The next line adds more value to the beloved. It hints that the beloved may have got flowers from others as well but those flowers were not as gentle as hers and her love is more passionate and tender at the same time. "Mey mo rosh" indicates that despite I taking care to bestow best and nicest flowers why are u enraged with me only "instead of being enraged with other ones". The poetess have raised the estimation of her beloved to the level that she is herself asking him to relish the flowers that were supposed to be offerings for higher being.

As Mir Taqi Mir says:

پرستش کی یاں تک کہ اے بُت تجھے

نظر میں سبھوں کی خدا کر چلے