Kashmiri Poetry: Taeviz Pann by Wahab Khar
Kashmiri Poetry Taeviz Pann by Wahab Khar.
1. Taeviz Pan: Wahab Khar
Translation & Explanation by Mansoor Ahmad.
The poem is divided into two parts. Part one explains the beginning of love and how the lover is initiated into it. It also mentions the trials and tribulations faced by a lover in the initial phase of love.
Second part explains the advanced stages of love (including annihilation ) and also mentions the rigours to be taken by lover to reach higher stages under the guidance of the spiritual guide.
ژےٚ کٔمیوٗ کٔرؠ نَے تٲویٖز پَن
یارو وَن، بالہٕ یارو وَن
Chey kamyuv karinai taeveez pan,
Yaaro wann, baaleyaaro wann.
Taeveez pann:تٲویٖز پَن : The amulet thread/Voodoo/Sorcery/Magic.
Baale yaar: بالہٕ یار : Childhood friend/Confidant.
Who played sorcery upon you,
Tell me, my friend, my childhood companion.
Explanation:
The poet asks his beloved as to who played the sorcery or magic upon Him that He is evading the union. The emphasis is laid upon them being confidants since long ago. Only a magic or voodoo by someone can sour the relationship if nothing changed between the lover and beloved during the relationship.
نابوٗدٕ أندرَے کۄرنَس بوٗد
آدِٔمٔ بَستہِ مَنٛز گُپِتھ روٗد
تَمہِ چی خَبَر نو چھےٚ مَلٔکَن
یارو وَن بالہٕ یارو وَن
Nabood: نابوٗدٕ :Non-existence/ nothingness
Bood: بوٗد : existence
Aadimih Basteh: آدِٔمٔ بَستہِ :Skin of Man/The physique or form of man.
Gupith: گُپِتھ : Hidden
Gave me existence out of nothingness,
Hid Himself in the skin of the man.
The angels (also) do not know about it,
Tell me, my friend, my childhood companion.
Explanation:
The God created man out of nothingness i.e., it was altogether a new creation without any model to copy from. Hiding inside the skin of man means to get manifested through His creation. God came to be known when man was created and sent as deputy on this earth. Even Angels did not knew about the aim of creation of man. The poet rues that he was created by God and God manifested Himself through him and yet he is not being given the favour of union.
پَتھ وَن رٲیِلہ اوسُس ناز
کَرٕ کیٛاہ ہول زۄل (کۄل) چھَم نۂ آواز
بہٕ ژٔٹِتھ ترٛوونَس تَبَردارَن
یارو وَن، بالہٕ یارو وَن
Path van: پَتھ وَن : Deep in the forest.
Raeyil: رٲیِل : Spruce tree.
Naaz: ناز : Pride/Grace
Tabardar: تَبَردارَ :Axe-weilder
Path van Raeyila oasus naaz,
Kya karre hol zol(kol) chhem ne awaaz.
Bu chatith troavnas tabardaaran,
Yaaro wann, baaleyaaro wann.
Was graceful like a Spruce of deep forest,
What shall I, the bent one, do; my voice is faltering.
I stand felled by the axe-weilder,
Tell me, my friend, my childhood companion.
Explanation:
Before being in love, I was like a Spruce tree. Spruce tree has a very dense canopy and is very tall as well as robust. It’s equated to being healthy, robust and towering. But now my voice is faltering in search of beloved. The axe-bearer, i.e., beloved, by way of inattentiveness to my condition has wearied me down. Beloved knows all this and yet no union is bestowed upon the lover and the lover is therefore earnestly beseeching the beloved to tell him the reason for being inconsiderate towards him.
Could not find the phrase Hol Zol though Hol Kol is found in all dictionaries and common parlance. Hol means crooked, kol mean dumb and together it means “spoiled by crookedness, or by becoming bent, etc., usually of inanate objects”.
پَتھ وَن رٲیِلہ وٲجِتھَس ڈُلَے
دُنیا زانتَن نِنٛدرِ زۄلَے
امہِ تیز لؠترَٛے کٔرؠ نَم گَن
یارو وَن بالہٕ یارو وَن
Path van Raeyila waejithas dulai,
Duniya zaantan nindri zolai.
Ami tez letray karinam gan,
Yaaro wann baaleyaaro wann.
Dulai: ڈُلَے : To roll down a slope
Zolai: زۄلَے : Just a wink of sleep
Gan: گَن : Pieces
Rolled me, the deep forest Spruce, down,
Know the world as a wink of sleep.
This sharp hand-saw cut me into the pieces,
Tell me, my friend, my childhood companion.
Explanation:
Once a tree in forest is cut down, it is usually rolled down ruthlessly from higher reaches to be transported for further use. The poet says that love made him being turned and tossed like a deep forest Spruce tree. The poet thereafter consoles himself that if this worldly life span is just a wink of eye why complain about the rigours of love when the fruit of this affliction is eternal union. However, the poet further bemoans that the love(sharp hand-saw) has cut him to pieces despite being like a robust tree. Of all this process, the poet wants to know reason of this turbulence in love from his beloved .
تورِ سٟتؠ کۆرنَم بِرؠ یانَے
جان جان گٔرؠ نَم سامانَے
گاٹہٕ جار چھۆکنَم وۄستہٕ کارَن
یارو وَن بالہٕ یارو وَن
Toari seeith korunam biryaanai,
Jaan jaan garinam saamaanai.
Gaatejaar chhopurnam woste-kaaran,
Yaaro wann, baaleyaaro wann.
Toor: توٗر : Adze
Biryaan: بِریان : roast
Gaatejaar: گاٹہٕ جار : wisdom
Chhoprun: چھۄپرُن : to fling with intention of hiding or concealing.
Woste-kaaran: وۄستہٕ کار : master artist
By an adze, did roast me,
And carved altogether good tools.
The master-artist flung wisdom into me,
Tell me my friend, tell me my childhood friend.
Explanation:
Adze is a handtool used by carpenter to chisel and carve shapes out of wood. It’s blade is inward shaped with handle fixed at around 45-50 degrees. Biryaan is a Persian word meaning to roast. How can an adze roast a person? Personally I think it is metaphor for meditation wherein a person sits with head down and with each remembrance, move his head right and left towards shoulders exactly like a carpenter uses adze to work on wood. Poets have used many metaphors for such meditation e.g., in one of the poems, Niama Saeb says,
مستوٗر أسس پتھ ونن
کستوٗرِ گوے نا زانہہ کنن
ژھاران بو لوٗسٔس کوہ بہ کوہ
ہو ہو بو کریو یوٗری ولو۔
Mastoor aaesis path wanan,
Kastoori gov na zanh Kanan.
Chharaan bu luusis koh ba koh,
Ho ho bu karyo yuuir walo.
Concealed beyond the woods I was,
Did the musk-deer never hear about it?
In it’s quest from hill to hill, I got wasted,
I will cradle you, come to me.
Explanation:
I renounced world for my beloved and went beyond the woods but my beloved (musk deer has been equated with beloved; it being beautiful and full of fragrance) did not hear my invocations. In it’s quest from hill to hill (the shoulders have been equated with hills. A person in the trance during remembrance of God usually shifts his head from one shoulder to another) my life ended (but still my voice didn’t reach my beloved). Despite this failure of mine, I will continue to call upon my beloved!
Wahab Khar says that because of this meditation in love, he got burnt. But at the same time, it imbued great qualities in me that are prerequisite of a lover. And added to it, the master artist (Spiritual Guide) imbued wisdom of love in me.
Finally, the poet asks beloved that despite the mediation and vouching of by spiritual guide, why is union of lovers a distant thing.
In next few stanzas, the reader must know certain terms and practices involving Spinning wheel and weaving of cloth/shawl.
Yindir: یٔندٕر Spinning wheel
Chikhir: ژِٔکر : Handle to rotate the spinning wheel.
Wachhi kaaen: وچہ کٲنؠ : A shuttle used to pass weft threads through warps. It’s shaped like canoe.
Dyeenj: ڈِینج : Ball or spool of yarn/wool
Yerun: یےرُن : To make a warp manually.
Chhoshov: ژۄشۄ : The warp consisting of four hundred threads.
Sheshov: شیشۄ : The warp consisting of six hundred threads.
Woovur: وووُر : Weaver
Thaan: تھان: Roll of cloth or shawl out of which pieces are cut for sewing garments or put to embroidery respectively.
Waan: وان : workshop where cloth/shawl is made from spun wool/yarn
Yoni-pan: یونہِ پن : the driving-band or bow string of a spinning-wheel. Also a scared thread worn by Brahmans and High caste Hindus. It’s is like qualification. A designated Hindu without this yoni pan cannot perform any ritual like marriage or Havan.
کولگأمۍ یندراہ کورنس تیار
نألۍ چُھم یونہِ پن کلمس تن دار
ژٔکٕر تمۂ چی شہمار زن
یارو ون بالہ یارو ون
Kolgaem yindra kornas tayyar,
Nael chhum yoni pan, kalimas tan-dar.
Chikhir tamichi Shahmar zan,
Yaaro wann, baaleyaaro wann.
Made me like a spinning wheel of Kulgam,
The sacred thread I wear, and present my life to monotheism,
The rotating handle is like Royal Serpent,
Tell me, my friend, my childhood companion.
Explanation:
This Stanza is epitome of metaphor. The poet has compared his renewed existence by virtue of guidance from his mentor to a best one spinning wheel. The Spinning wheel of Kulgam was famous and Kulgam was known for spinning. It’s wool used to be supplied throughout the valley. The poet says that the spiritual guide made him like a spinning wheel of Kulgam i.e., product par excellence.
The connection of big wheel with the metal distaff by driving band is equated to Sacred thread. The yoni-pan(metaphor for the driving band) may be equated to the remembrance of God as it the medium by which the Yindir(Body/Soul) finds motion which sets the another motion in the metal distaff thereby bringing into existence the labour of love i.e., the yarn (metaphorically good deeds like emotions and feelings of love). It’s great use of words by the poet. The chikhir i.e., the handle by which the spinning wheel is set into the motion has been equated to the Royal Serpent.
Though this word entered into the Kashmiri folklore through Persian but it gained some distinct characteristic in Kashmir. Shahmar is usually thought to guard the treasures. The rotating handle guards the evolution and growth of love because as long as the handle rotates, all subsequent things are set in the motion. Despite all these, the love is unrequited and poet asks the reasons from his beloved.
وچہٕ کأنۍ یندرس پؠٹھ کھأجنس
اتہٕ گتھ آولنہ ڈینجہ لأجنس
پنہٕ تٔلۍ ڈینج تَے ڈینجہ تٔلۍ پن
یارو ون بالہ یارو ون
Wachhi kaani yindras peth khaejinas,
Atte gath aawlini dyenji laejinas.
Panne taell dyeeinj tai dyenji taell pan,
Yaaro wann, baaleyaaro wann.
Transferred me on to the weaving shuttle-workshop,
Fixed me onto the to and fro whirlpool shuttle spool.
Spool under the thread, thread under the spool,
Tell me, my friend, my childhood companion.
Explanation:
After spinning the wool and forming rolls of thread, the same is used to make cloth/shawl. For this the workshop is established. The lengthwise threads, called warp, run parallel to the fabric, usually stronger and smoother than weft. Warp threads are the foundation of the weave and hold the tension while weaving. The crosswise threads, called weft, pass horizontally across the fabric. The crosswise threads are passed by shuttle(WachhiKon). The weaver passes the shuttle through the warp threads to create the first row of weft threads. The weaver then beats down the weft threads with a reed.
Poet says that after his spiritual guide made him into a good spinning wheel (i.e., laid sound foundation of love) and resultantly produced good yarn, mounted him onto the workshop for reaching higher stages of love. However, this higher stage of love was more rigorous and painful. The rigours are equated to the shuttling of wefts and the unrolling of threads from the spool fixed inside the shuttle as if in a whirlpool.
“Spool under the thread, thread under the spool” is a Kashmiri phrase usually used to denote creation of confusion. The same is buttressed by the preceding line also. In whirlpool like condition in love, the lover stands puzzled by the rigours of higher stage of love. Resultantly, the lover asks his beloved why is he in such situation when they are childhood lovers.
یٔندرس کٔتِتھ ییٖرنم یؠنۍ
سارنی پنن کٔڑنم گؠنۍ
اکھ لچھ ژۄوہ ساس تھأوۍنم پن
یارو ون بالہ یارو ون
Yindras katith yeernam yeni,
Saarni panan kednam geni.
Akh lachh chov-vuh saas thaevnam pan,
Yaaro wann, baaleyaaro wann.
Yeni: یؠنۍ : Wool/thread
Geni: گؠنۍ : Wrinkles
After spinning me on the wheel, of me wound the warp,
And removed the wrinkles of every thread,
Fixed One lac twenty four thousand threads onto me,
Tell me my friend, tell me my childhood friend.
Explanation:
The warp is made by manually winding the pashmina yarn across 4 to 8 iron rods erected on the ground. This process is called Yaerun in Kashmiri.
After spinning thread (first stage of love), made warps of me (next stage of love). In this next stage, the spiritual guide made me further smooth by removing all the vices from me. Thereafter, mounted 1.24 lac of threads i.e., by virtue of this stage of love, made me feel the connection with all the messengers of God.
And still the poet doesn’t find the union with his beloved and therefore complains about it.
مۄلٕل یؠنہِ ہن أسٕس سیر
مُرنیو سٕتؠن أنۍنس زیر
ژوشو تہٕ شیشَو کھأرنم پن
یارو ون بالہ یارو ون
Molul yeni-hin aesis ser,
Murrenev seeiten aninas zer.
Choshev te shehsev khaernam pan,
Yaaro wann, baaleyaaro wann.
Molul: مۄلٕل : Valuable/Worthy
Yeni-hin: یؠنہِ ہن : Handful of wool/yarn
Ser: سیر : Contented/Full
Murnev: مُرنیو : Twisting and bringing
Zer: زیر : Subdued/ To Humble
I was a contented handful of valuable yarn,
Subdued by way of twisting and squeezing(by the spiritual guide).
Mounted hundreds of threads onto me,
Tell me, my friend, my childhood companion.
Explanation:
I was a self conceited lover content with the stage of love I was in but the spiritual guide moulded me and subdued my pride and self worth.
The warp consisting of four hundred threads is called choshev and the warp consisting of six hundred threads is called sheshav. It might be used to describe the intricate details of a particular fabric or to highlight the skill of the weaver. Poet says that his spiritual guide after subduing him, skilfully made him like a big warp ready to be worked on for a good final product.
Despite being led into these stages of love, the childhood beloved is still inattentive.
أدی أدی خبراہ بوز
وووُر چُھے ونان مۄزوریاہ روز
تھان نیو تھانہ وألۍ وان وُچھتن
یارو ون بالہ یارو ون
Aaedi aaedi khabra booz,
Wovur chhui wanan mozurya rooz.
Thaan nyu thaan-wael, waan wuchhtan,
Yaaro wann, baaleyaaro wann.
Just a while ago heard a word,
The weaver is saying he got paid for the labour,
The roll of cloth was taken by the owner, see (what is left behind) in the workshop,
Tell me, my friend, my childhood companion.
Explanation:
This Stanza hints towards the annihilation. The poet says that the spiritual guide(weaver of the lover) finally proclaims that his toils and endeavours were paid off. The roll of cloth(i.e., lover) was taken (i.e., annihilated) by the owner(i.e., Beloved) and the workshop is all vacant.
The lover in disbelief may be asking his childhood beloved if it’s so as proclaimed by the spiritual guide.
دنیا زانُن چُھے اکھ رُما
عقبا زانُن چُھے سؠٹھاہ
وھاب کھارس وۄن پنٕنۍ پیرن
یارو ون بالہ یارو ون
Duniya zaanun akh ruma,
Uqbaa zaanun chhui setha.
Wahab Kharas wonn panin Peeran,
Yaaro wann, baaleyaaro wann.
Rum: رُم : Blink of eye/an instant/a moment.
Uqbaa: عقبا : Afterlife
Consider the world as a blink of eye,
And the afterlife as too sufficient,
Wahab Khar was so counselled by his own Spiritual Guide.
Tell me, my friend, my childhood companion.
Explanation:
This is the simplest stanza of the poem. It plainly means that the spiritual guide counselled his disciple that this world is transitory and one must aim for better afterlife..
وللہ اعلم
Kashmiri Poetry Taeviz Pann by Wahab Khar
Kashmiri Poetry Taeviz Pann by Wahab Khar
Kashmiri Poetry Taeviz Pann by Wahab Khar
Kashmiri Poetry Taeviz Pann by Wahab Khar
Kashmiri Poetry Taeviz Pann by Wahab Khar
Kashmiri Poetry Taeviz Pann by Wahab Khar
Kashmiri Poetry Taeviz Pann by Wahab Khar
Kashmiri Poetry Taeviz Pann by Wahab KharKashmiri Poetry Taeviz Pann by Wahab Khar
Kashmiri Poetry Taeviz Pann by Wahab Khar
Kashmiri Poetry Taeviz Pann by Wahab Khar
Link for the sung version:
