Tanhai

ye sard raat ye aawargi ye nind ka bojh hum apne shahr mein hote to ghar gae hote यह शे’र उर्दू के मशहूर अशआर में से एक है। इसमें जो स्थिति पाई जाती है उसे अत्यंत एकांत अवस्था की कल्पना की जा सकती है। इसके विधानों में शिद्दत भी है और एहसास भी। “सर्द रात”, “आवारगी” और “नींद का बोझ” ये ऐसी तीन अवस्थाएं हैं जिनसे तन्हाई की तस्वीर बनती है और जब ये कहा कि “हम अपने शहर में होते तो घर गए होते” तो जैसे तन्हाई के साथ साथ बेघर होने की त्रासदी को भी चित्रित किया गया है। शे’र का मुख्य विषय तन्हाई और बेघर होना और अजनबीयत है। शायर किसी और शहर में है और सर्द रात में आँखों पर नींद का बोझ लिये आवारा घूम रहा है। स्पष्ट है कि वो शहर में अजनबी है इसलिए किसी के घर नहीं जा सकता वरना सर्द रात, आवारगी और नींद का बोझ वो मजबूरियाँ हैं जो किसी ठिकाने की मांग करती हैं। मगर शायर की त्रासदी यह है कि वो तन्हाई के शहर में किसी को जानता नहीं इसीलिए कहता है कि अगर मैं अपने शहर में होता तो अपने घर चला गया होता। shafaq sopori

itne ghane baadal ke pichhe kitna tanha hoga chand

main hun dil hai tanhai hai tum bhi hote achchha hota my loneliness my heart and me would be nice the couplet compresses an entire emotional world into a bare room: the self, the heart, and solitude. “heart” stands for a restless inner life that cannot be comforted by the speaker alone. the second line is a soft, conditional wish—your presence is imagined as the missing piece that could turn emptiness into ease. the pain is quiet, expressed through simplicity rather than complaint.

zindagi yun hui basar tanha qafila sath aur safar tanha translation the life was thus spent, alone, despite the caravan, journey, alone. sagar akbarabadi

khwab ki tarah bikhar jaane ko ji chahta hai aisi tanhai ki mar jaane ko ji chahta hai

ab to un ki yaad bhi aati nahin kitni tanha ho gain tanhaiyan nowadays even her thoughts do not intrude see how forlorn and lonely is my solitude the couplet captures emotional numbness after separation: the beloved’s memory, once constant, has faded. this is not relief but a harsher stage of grief—an inner emptiness where even the companion of sorrow (loneliness) disappears. by personifying “loneliness,” the poet shows isolation intensifying into a cold, echoing void.

apne hone ka kuchh ehsas na hone se hua khud se milna mera ek shakhs ke khone se hua

ab is ghar ki aabaadi mehmanon par hai koi aa jae to waqt guzar jata hai

mujhe tanhai ki aadat hai meri baat chhoden ye lije aap ka ghar aa gaya hai hat chhoden

ek mahfil mein kai mahfilen hoti hain sharik jis ko bhi pas se dekhoge akela hoga

man ki dua na bap ki shafqat ka saya hai aaj apne sath apna janam din manaya hai

tanhai mein karni to hai ek baat kisi se lekin wo kisi waqt akela nahin hota

apne sae se chaunk jate hain umr guzri hai is qadar tanha

ek safina hai teri yaad agar ek samundar hai meri tanhai

kisi haalat mein bhi tanha nahin hone deti hai yahi ek kharabi meri tanhai ki

kaw kaw-e-sakht-jaani hae-tanhai na puchh subh karna sham ka lana hai ju-e-shir ka what constant pain this loneliness you may not believe like from mountains drawing milk, is passing morn to eve ghalib portrays solitude as a hard, grinding test of survival: one must keep living despite the mind’s constant strain. the passing of time itself becomes torturous—getting from one part of the day to the next feels like hauling something that cannot be hauled. “jo-e-sheer” is a metaphor for a near-impossible labor, showing how loneliness turns ordinary time into an ordeal.

shahr mein kis se sukhan rakhiye kidhar ko chaliye itni tanhai to ghar mein bhi hai ghar ko chaliye

musafir hi musafir har taraf hain magar har shakhs tanha ja raha hai

tanhaiyan tumhaara pata puchhti rahin shab-bhar tumhaari yaad ne sone nahin diya

main apne sath rahta hun hamesha akela hun magar tanha nahin hun

hai aadmi bajae khud ek mahshar-e-khayal hum anjuman samajhte hain khalwat hi kyun na ho ghalib asserts that the human mind is so populated with wild ideas and chaotic imagination that no one is ever truly alone. the internal noise of thoughts ('mahshar-e-khayal') is comparable to the chaos of judgment day. consequently, even physical isolation feels like a bustling social gathering because of the company of one's own overwhelming thoughts.

ye kis maqam pe lai hai meri tanhai ki mujh se aaj koi bad-guman nahin hota

bhid tanhaiyon ka mela hai aadmi aadmi akela hai

zara der baithe the tanhai mein teri yaad aankhen dukhane lagi

eid ka din hai so kamre mein pada hun 'aslam' apne darwaze ko bahar se muqaffal kar ke

dasht-e-tanhai mein jine ka saliqa sikhiye ye shikasta baam-o-dar bhi ham-safar ho jaenge

ye intizar nahin shama hai rifaqat ki is intizar se tanhai khub-surat hai

tere jalwon ne mujhe gher liya hai ai dost ab to tanhai ke lamhe bhi hasin lagte hain

koi bhi ghar mein samajhta na tha mere dukh sukh ek ajnabi ki tarah main khud apne ghar mein tha

de hausle ki dad ke hum tere gham mein aaj baithe hain mahfilon ko sajae tere baghair