Aaj Jaane Ki Zid Na Karo - An Experiment

I first heard this in the movie Monsoon Wedding. I felt quite embarrassed having to confess that I hadn't heard this one before (though I had heard Farida Khanum earlier). This beautiful nazm is written by Faiyyaz Hashmi and has been sung by many singers though Farida Khanum's rendition stands out. It would be wise to listen to it first!

This is an experiment in rendering a nazm. Below, you will hear the song - half sung, half recited - with a background score from an entirely unrelated source. I am not sure whether it will be to your taste, nevertheless, here goes:





Translation:
The reader should note that I translate the last stanza differently and the ones you might find elsewhere all follow one particular translation. Only the poet can confirm which is the true one (and he left this mortal earth way before I was born).


[Aaj jaane ki zid na karo
Yoon hi Pehlu mein baittey raho
Aaj jaane ki zid na karo.

Don't insist on leaving tonight
Just sit by my side
Don't press on leaving tonight.

Hai! mar jaayenge, hum to lutt jaayenge
Aaisi baatein kiya na karo.

"Alas! I shall die, I shall be undone"
Don't speak such words.

Aaj jaane ki zid na karo.
Don't insist on leaving tonight.]

Tum hi socho zara
Kyoon na rokey tumhe
Jaan jaati hai jab utt ke jaatey ho tum (2)
Tumko apni kasam, jaane jaan
Baat itni meri maan lo.

Please reflect on this
Why should I not withhold you?
My life ebbs as you rise to leave my company
My love, swear by me (that)
My smallest whim you'll grant.

[...]

Waqt ki kaid mein zindagi hai magar, (2)
Chand ghadiyaan yahi hain jo aazaad hain (2)
Inko khokar meri jaane jaan
Umr bhar na taraste raho

In Time's shackles is life, nevertheless
Fleeting moments are these that are truly free.
Having lost them, my love
Don't thirst for them eternally.

[...]

Kitna masoom rangeen hai ye sama
Husn aur ishq ki aaj meraj hai (2)
Kal ki kisko khabar jaane jaan
Rok lo aaj ki raat ko

So innocently variegated is the world
Beauty and Love are in ascension
Who has ever known what tomorrow brings?
Please pause this night (before it's too late).

[...]

In the last stanza, several sites quote the line as "Husn aur Ishq ki aaj mein raaj hai" which would mean "Beauty and Love are ruling tonight" or as this site interprets it. I am uncomfortable with that interpretation as it doesn't sound right to the ear nor does the meaning hold aesthetically well. Meraj is the day when Prophet Muhammad ascended to the heavens and the word Meraj is used (usu. in Islamic contexts) to mean the ascension or the perfecting of a soul. Here, the poet possibly means that Beauty and Love have risen tonight to that level of perfection that they could well meet with Allaah (not pronounced Ala or Alla but Allaah with a stress on the 2nd syllable). Hence, Husn aur Ishq ki aaj meraj hai. Of course, I could be wrong, but I prefer this interpretation till I am corrected.