Translation

What would happen if You showed Your face like the full moon?
What would happen if You came tonight, my Moon?

The whole world is imprisoned by Your tresses.
What would happen if You untangled Your tresses for a moment?

There is darkness in the world without You.
What would happen if You rose like the Sun?

Come for a moment and reside in my eyes forever.
What would happen if You resided in my eyes and stole my heart?

This mole, which dotes on Your countenance,
What would, for God’s sake, happen if You sold it for cash?

You are in my eyes, and I search for You everywhere.
What would happen if You lifted the secret veil?

Goya searches for You everywhere.
What would happen if You showed the right path to the lost?

Transcription

Chūn māh-i dō hafteh rū numāyī cheh shavad
Imshab mah-i man agar biāyī cheh shavad

Īn jumleh jahān asīr-i zulfat gashteh
Yek lahzeh agar gireh gushāyī cheh shavad

Ālam hameh gashteh ast bī to tārīk
Khurshīd sifat agar barāyī cheh shavad

Yek lahzeh biyā o dar chashmam binashīn
Dar dīdeh nishasteh dil rubāyī cheh shavad

Īn hindū-yi khālat keh beh rūyat shaidāst
Befarūshī agar beh naqd khudayī cheh shavad

Dar dīdeh toyī o man beh har kū jūyā  
Az pardeh-yi ghaib rū nūmāyī cheh shavad

Gūyā st beh har taraf surāghat jūyā
Gar gum shudeh rā rāh numāyī cheh shavad

Gurmukhi

ਚੂਨ ਮਾਹਿ ਦੋ ਹਫ਼ਤੇਹ ਰੂ ਨੁਮਾਈ ਚੇਹ ਸ਼ਵਦ ।
ਇਮਸ਼ਬ ਮਹਹਿ ਮਨ ਅਗਰ ਬਿਆਈ ਚੇਹ ਸ਼ਵਦ ॥

ਈਨ ਜੁਮਲੇਹ ਜਹਾਨ ਅਸੀਰਿ ਜ਼ੁਲਫ਼ਤ ਗਸ਼ਤੇਹ ।
ਯਕ ਲਹਜ਼ੇਹ ਅਗਰ ਗਿਰੇਹ ਕੁਸ਼ਾਈ ਚੇਹ ਸ਼ਵਦ ॥

ਆਲਮ ਹਮੇਹ ਗਸ਼ਤੇਹ ਅਸਤ ਬੀ ਤੋ ਤਾਰੀਕ ।
ਖ਼ੁਰਸ਼ੀਦ ਸਿਫ਼ਤ ਅਗਰ ਬਰਾਈ ਚੇਹ ਸ਼ਵਦ ॥

ਯਕ ਲਹਜ਼ੇਹ ਬਿਯਾ ਓ ਦਰ ਚਸ਼ਮਮ ਬਿਨਸ਼ੀਨ ।
ਦਰ ਦੀਦੇਹ ਨਿਸ਼ਸਤੇਹ ਦਿਲ ਰੁਬਾਈ ਚੇਹ ਸ਼ਵਦ ॥

ਈਨ ਹਿੰਦੂਇ ਖ਼ਾਲਤ ਕੇਹ ਬੇਹ ਰੂਅਤ ਸ਼ੈਦਾਸਤ ।
ਬੇਫ਼ਰੂਸ਼ੀ ਅਗਰ ਬੇਹ ਨਕਦ ਖ਼ੁਦਾਈ ਚੇਹ ਸ਼ਵਦ ॥

ਦਰ ਦੀਦੇਹ ਤੂਇ ਓ ਮਨ ਬੇਹ ਹਰ ਕੂ ਜੂਆ ।
ਅਜ਼ ਪਰਦੇਹਇਗ਼ੈਬ ਰੂ ਨੁਮਾਈ ਚੇਹ ਸ਼ਵਦ ॥

ਗੋਇਆ ਅਸਤ ਬੇਹ ਹਰ ਤਰਫ਼ ਸੁਰਾਗ਼ਤ ਜੂਆ ।
ਗਰ ਗ਼ੁਮ ਸ਼ੁਦੇਹ ਰਾ ਰਾਹ ਨੁਮਾਈ ਚੇਹ ਸ਼ਵਦ ॥

Persian

چون ماه دو هفته رو نمایی چه شود
امشب مه من اگر بیایی چه شود

این جمله جهان اسیر زلفت گشته
یک لحظه اگر گره گشایی چه شود

عالم همه گشته است بی تو تاریک
خورشید صفت اگر برآیی چه شود

یک لحظه بیا و در چشمم بنشین
در دیده نشسته دل ربایی چه شود

این هندوی خالت که به رویت شیداست
بفروشی اگر به نقد خدایی چه شود

در دیده تویی و من به هر کو جویا
از پرده غیب رو نمایی چه شود

گویا ست به هر طرف سراغت جویا
گر گم شده را راه نمایی چه شود

Commentary

Bhai Nand Lal’s twenty-fifth ghazal feels like a love letter, something to be read privately, in a whisper, and perhaps intended only for the ear of the Beloved. In the original Persian, each couplet ends with a question, “چه شود,” translated here as “what would happen.” In this translation, we chose to bring the repeated question to the beginning rather than the end of the second line of each couplet in an effort to evoke the rhythm of the original Persian text. This repeated question sets the tone for the ghazal, wherein each couplet contains a speculation, an invitation, and the possibility of a reunion with the Beloved.

Several of the couplets in this ghazal invoke the physical attributes of the Guru or the Beloved. The first couplet consists of two speculative questions, in which Goya wonders about what might happen if the Guru--the Beloved--showed their face to him. Both lines draw on the image of the luminous full moon, famously sought after by poets across time and geography. The second couplet is similarly intimate, turning from the moon, which suggests the Beloved’s face, to their hair. Elsewhere, in the fifth couplet, Goya describes the dark mole on the Beloved’s face. In this translation, we have eliminated the word that describes the dark color of the mole, هندو or hindū, for the sake of clarity. During the seventeenth century, the word hindū would have been used to describe a person from what we refer to today as the Indian subcontinent or South Asia. Further, hindū would be used to suggest darkness of color. In each of these couplets, the reader might be prompted to reflect on whether Goya is describing the physical attributes of Guru Gobind Singh Sahib, in whose court he was writing, or whether these couplets should be interpreted as pure metaphor. Both interpretations yield different meanings and suggest the richness of Goya’s poetics.

In the powerful fourth couplet, Goya asks the Beloved to “reside” in his eyes. The original Persian verb suggests not only “to reside” but also to sit, or perhaps to settle into. The couplet moves from a playful invitation--“Come for a moment and reside in my eyes forever”--towards a longing speculation. Should the Beloved come and reside in his eyes, he would steal his heart; the eyes are a pathway.

In the sixth couplet, Goya once again returns to the eyes. He recognizes his seamlessness with the Beloved--“You are in my eyes”--but he still continues his search. As he writes, “I search for You everywhere.” What, he wonders, would happen if the Beloved lifted the veil, or, as he describes it in the final couplet, shows him the “right path”?

Commentary by Damanpreet Singh