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Koi dost hai na raqeeb hai by Jagjit Singh

Posted by JV on February 20, 2006

Album : Vision Vol. II
SInger : Jagjit Singh
Music : Jagjit Singh
Lyrics : Rana Sahri

This ghazal refelcts my mood of the moment.

***
Koi dost hai na raqeeb hai,
tera sehar kitna ajeeb hai.

Woh jo ishq tha woh junoon tha,
yeah jo hijre hai ye naseeb hai.

Yahan kiska chehra padha karoon,
yahan kaun itna kareeb hai.

Main kise kahoon mere saath chal,
yahan sab ke sar pe saleeb hai.
***
कोई दोस्त है न रकीब है,
तेरा शहर कितना अजीब है.

वह जो इश्क था वह जूनून था,
ये जो हिज्र है ये नसीब है.

यहाँ किसका चेहरा पढ़ करूं,
यहाँ कौन इतना करीब है.

मैं किसे कहूं मेरे साथ चल,
यहाँ सब के सर पे सलीब है.
***

रकीब/raqeeb=enemy/दुश्मन
सलीब/saleeb=cross (for explanation see manish’s comment)
हिज्र/Hijre=Sepration/वियोग, विरह (28-02-2008)

In the third sher all the emotions of an intimate relation is comprehended. When you are so close with someone where a whisper seems louder than shout. A whisper seems to shake the feeling of being close. You can stare at the face , you can look into the eyes without hesitation and lost in tranquality. You read the person through the eyes. And if you have ever read , able to read , such a pair of eyes, you are scholarly then put all scholars togather.

33 Responses to “Koi dost hai na raqeeb hai by Jagjit Singh”

  1. Just listened to it after your recommendation. Great stuff. Well, has to be. BTW, Saleeb means cross.

  2. JV said

    Thanks for giving consideration to my recommendation. But the word “cross” does not ring the bell, or does it?

  3. To carry a cross means to carry a burden. Before Jesus was crucified, he was made to carry the cross (a heavy one at that) thru the streets and was crucified on that same cross.

  4. JV said

    Alright, you made the point there, I got it now. Thanks

  5. Nishant Varma said

    Beautiful , indeed this is one of my favourite ghazals!
    Amongst Jagjit’s masterpiece

    Cheers
    Nish

  6. gumnam said

    link to the video on youtube

    Also, you got the order wrong, and missed a couplet…

    Koi dost hai na raqeeb hai,
    tera sehar kitna ajeeb hai.

    Woh jo ishq tha woh junoon tha,
    yeah jo hijre hai ye naseeb hai.

    Main kise kahoon mere saath chal,
    yahan sab ke sar pe saleeb hai.

    Yahan kiska chehra padha karoon,
    yahan kaun itna kareeb hai.

    Tujhe dekh kar main hun sochta
    Tu habeeb hai ya raqeeb hai.

  7. amol said

    I always listen jagjit singh gazals and he is my ideal. But i write a poem when i m alone i always some words which is given below:-

    ajeeb kashmkash hai,
    ajeeb si hai tanhayee.
    akele hai hum,
    bus saath hai rusvayee.
    jado-jahed hai dilo dimag mein,
    sudh-budh hai apni gavayee.
    baithe hai chand ki chandni mein,
    chal rahi hai halki si purvayee.
    byan nahi kar sakta dasta apni,
    is liye khuda se chal rahi hai ladai.

    amol
    +919814613442
    +919316301400

    my email id: amol5abi@gmail.com

  8. JV said

    @ Gumnam, what I have quoted is from the audio album and what you are referring is from some live stage show. I have re-confirmed again the album contains the same as I have quoted.

    Anyway thanks for the comment.

    @ Amol , nice poem ,keep it up.

  9. BM said

    Somewhere i read that “Saleeb” means “Sword”. Tried to find out the meaning of Saleeb on some other websites but couldn’t really find the answer. However “Cross” does not really match.

    I think we can take the meaning like.

    “To whom i should ask to accompany me
    Everyone has their own things to take care of (or they are forced not to accompany me)”

    • mani said

      I think saleeb means sword. Because in ghazal “garaj baras pyaasi dharti ko phir paani de maula” there is a sentence “phir reushan kar zahar ka pyaala chamka nayi saleebein”.
      here saleeb means sword i think.

  10. JV said

    @ BM , I will try to find the meaning again. Still Manish’s explanation holds good. Because carrying on cross , means carrying burden of something.

    Check this site about a person who carried the cross, http://www.blessitt.com/.

    Your suggestion is good and meaning ful.

  11. SK said

    Gentlemen, “Kise kahoon mere saath chal, yahan sabke sar par saleeb hai” Saleeb actually means a tombstone/gravestone. Hope this is helpful.
    Rgds.

  12. jagjit fan said

    can someone provide a english translation for this song. thanks a lot.

  13. Nish said

    i came here looking for meaning to “saleeb” seems there r more like me..i always listend to ghazals my urdu knowledge is poor but i am building ….
    keep up the good work ppl

  14. Myelin said

    Good Explanation Manish…

  15. Faizi said

    Hello dears i m from Pakistan. i m looking for a website where from i get hindi films dialogs. please help me.

  16. Avani said

    lovely poem amol..:) i came across it while searching for the meaning of the word saleeb.

  17. NayaN said

    hmmm i have read the above discussion …..even i find this link while searching the meaning of saleeb…

    main kise kahoo mere sath chal,
    yaha sab ke sar pe saleeb hai

    i think as the sense comes out that i have no body here, who i can say to walk me with .Reson being they have their own stuff to do …(can say responsiblities in + ve sense) they all got stuck in their social “taam jhaam” so no body is coming with me …
    or
    see if we sing the first line twice with our eyes closed…..
    i m damn sure that a feeling of depression comes. Why because no body is here who can understand his grief his lonliness ths y the poet is indirectly telling this to his lover that he wanna walk with her or him in these tough ways of life.

    Please revert me back …………me waiting ….eagerly.

  18. JV said

    @NayaN, thanks for the comment, I had almost forgotten the dicussion.

    Well, your both interpretations fit well in their place. Both the interpreations are related to “loneliness” which is the theme of the ghazal.

    I have bought urdu-hindi dictionary and it says saleeb means सूली so cross is the nearest meaining to saleeb.

  19. NayaN said

    Hi JV

    Well i think itna to shayad us shayar ne bhi nahin socha hoga jisne yeh likha hai ……………ha ha ha

    well i like this type of dicussions…
    In english language…we have different meaning of the same word in different contexts like “Damn” we can use it in negative as well as in + ve sense…. it might be possible that every language has this kinda stuff……….

    If the meaning of saleeb is “Cross” then also it relates to jesus grief and loneliness…..

    Hey JV let me know if this kinda discussion is happeneing some where else….on any topic ….plzzzzz m waiting …

  20. K said

    This version of the gazal has the same music which was there in Reshma’s song Aksar shab-e-tanhai mein.

  21. Pushpal Singh said

    Can u please advice the meaning of hijre in this gazal…

  22. JV said

    Hijre means separation.

  23. Farhan said

    I’m sorry but my friend JV has got the meaning of the word “Raqeeb” wrong. Raqeeb means one who watches you, one who takes care of you & Hijr doesn’t mean separation, it means migration.

  24. JV said

    Dont be sorry. “Raqeeb” has two meanings. Here the meaning “who watches you” doesn’t go well in conjunction with “Dost” .

  25. Yogesh Tiwari said

    Hi,
    I have one small question. How do you write both hindi and english script in wordpress. I would be glad if you could help me

  26. karnal said

    dont know about english but in ppunjabi hijjar means vichora
    raqeeb means dushman
    and saleeb means fansi adn u can also moulde it to ur own way
    like poeter done it in this gazal

  27. JV said

    Thanks Karnal for your inputs. I will need some help about some punjabi words in one kalaam sung by Abida Parveen.

    @ Yogesh, WordPress doesnt do this trick. I do it in a clumsy way using blogger.com/Google Indic to write in Hindi then paste it here.

  28. Ali said

    Saleeb means ….

    you guys know about the Kabar ? Grave .. us k uper jo number plate lagi hoti hai na us ko saleeb boltay hai ok .

  29. Manoj said

    Hello Friends..I wrote some lines a few months back …did not ask anyone if these are good/bad/ok/shutup type :-) Plz let me know…..

    “Chaand mangu khuda tujh se to hogi baat bemani…..
    “tu khushiyan meri kismat ki ‘Use’ de de karam hoga…..” ”

    Kiya ek pal ko milne ka hai usne aaj fir wada….
    “Lo atka fir se halak me aaj mera ye damm hoga……”

    “Vo Milenge..Muskurayenge…Aur kuch na bolenge……..
    “Daayra mere shabdo ka pta hai fir se tang hoga…..”

    “Kehte hai kya baat hai….Vo jab bhi milte hain…..
    “Ek baar padh lo aankhon ko to jaan jaoge……. Kehna hai tumse jo ..us par likha pura ‘ Nibandh’ hoga..”

    ” Pa Loo tumhe to na rahe kuch paane ki Khwahish….
    Na pa sakun to paane ka kissa khatam hoga…..”

    manoj

  30. Vishal Agarwal said

    Good one… Manoj.. :) shayri.. woh ho sakti jisme sirf urdu ho…
    try to urdu as much as possible…

  31. goldenirony said

    Raqeeb doesn;t mean enemy – it means someone who “watches over”

  32. Neha said

    Hi,
    Even i logged on to know the meaning of SALEEB
    Hey Amol, Urs poetry is a nice one.

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