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Our sincerest apologies for the breakdown in services. Some technical 
difficulties prevented us from sending out the ghazals to you. 
Hopefully, we shall encounter no such problems in the future. Our 
sincerest thanks to those who sent in their inquiries, expressing their 
concern, and the numerous offers of help that we received. Thank you. We 
really appreciate it. 

Before we proceed with today's ghazal, I would like to point out an 
error in our previous posting. Mehfil-e-Gazal #12 which showcased the 
famous Mehdi Hasan nazm "mujhe tum nazar se giraa to rahe ho..." was 
erroneously attributed to Sohail Rana. The nazm is by Masroor Anwar. The 
music for the Mehdi Hasan version of the ghazal was provided by Sohail 
Rana. 

One of our subscribers was kind enough to send in some information about 
Sohail Rana. We thought you may find it interesting, hence we are 
including it here. The information is edited to include relevant 
portions only.

"...every Pakistani knows Sohail Rana. He hosted a program called 'Sang 
Sang Chalay' for kids, which included singing and games, and he was 
famous for kids/groups he taught. He is an amazing writer who has also 
written many many songs for the Pakistani Film Industry in itsprime. As 
for his recent endeavors, he organized the main Golden Jubilee Show in 
Toronto last year."

Since we had professed our ignorance about Sohail Rana, we are glad to 
obtain this information about him.

On to matters at hand! Mehfil-e-Gazal #17 showcases a nazm by Sahir 
Ludhianvi. The last two posts have also been nazms. In some ways, 
perhaps I have been trying to contrast the various styles of poets as 
far as nazms are concerned. Gulzar and Sahir have often been compared in 
this regard, not least because both of them have been deeply involved 
with the Indian film industry, and have been considered serious poets in 
their own rights. Purely from the Urdu literary point of view, Sahir 
definitely occupies a higher position than Gulzar. There is a depth of 
feeling, a meaningfulness to Sahir's poetry expressed in simple terms 
and in a straighforward manner that seems to be missing in the complex 
metaphors used by Gulzar to convey his messages. Sahir's poetry is a 
true reflection of his journey through life, beginning with romanticism 
and idealism, cloaked in enthusiasm, slowly giving way under the 
crushing weight of frustration (in love and life) and failure, to 
bitterness; the son of a rich landlord, giving the clarion call to 
social reform. The same is reflected in his film songs where he moves 
from:

pyaar par bas to nahii.n hai meraa lekin phir bhii
tuu bataa de ke tujhe pyaar karuu.N yaa.N na kahruu.N 

to:

jaane vo kaise log the jinake pyaar ko pyaar milaa
hamane to jab kaliyaa.N maa.Ngii kaa.NTo.n kaa haar milaa

to:

ta.ng aa chuke hai.n kashmakash-e-zi.ndagii se ham
Thukraa na de.n jahaa.N ko kahii.n bediliii se ham

to finally:

zaraa mulk ke rahabaro.n ko bulaao
ye kuuche, ye galiyaa.N, ye ma.nzar dikhaao
sanaKhvaan-e-taqdiis-e-mashriq ko laao
sanaKhvaan-e-taqdiis-e-mashriq kahaa.N hai.n?
(jinhe.n naaz hai hi.nd par vo kahaa.N hai.n?)


Today's nazm is titled "Khoobsoorat mo.D"

chalo ik baar phir se ajanabii ban jaaye.N ham dono.n

na mai.n tum se ko_ii ummiid rakhuu.N dil navaazii kii
na tum merii taraf dekho Galat a.ndaaz nazaro.n se
na mere dil kii dha.Dakan la.Dakha.Daaye merii baato.n me.n
na zaahir ho tumhaarii kashmakash kaa raaz nazaro.n se

ta'arruf rog ho jaaye to us ko bhuulanaa behatar
ta'alluq bojh ban jaaye to us ko to.Danaa achchhaa
vo afsaanaa jise takamiil tak laanaa na ho mumakin
use ek Khuubasuurat mo.D dekar chho.Danaa achchhaa

chalo ik baar phir se ajanabii ban jaaye.N ham dono.n

[ta'arruf = acquaintance; ta'alluq = relationship; takamiil = 
completion]

This nazm was incorporated very effectively by Sahir in the film 
"Gumraah" starring Sunil Dutt, Mala Sinha and Ashok Kumar. There is an 
additional stanza in the film song which goes something like this:

tumhe.n bhii ko_ii ulajhan rokatii hai peshakadamii se
mujhe bhii log kahate hai.n ki ye jalave paraae hai.n
mere hamaraah bhii rusavaaiyaa.N hai.n mere maazii kii - 2
tumhaare saath bhii guzarii huii raato.n ke saaye hai.n

Also, the word "takamiil" is replaced by "a.njaam" in the song.

Hope that was enjoyable!