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The poet of the day is Momin Khan Momin. 

mai.n ehavaal-e-dil mar gayaa kahate kahate
thake tum na "bas, bas, sunaa!" kahate kahate

[ehavaal-e-dil = tale of my heart]


mujhe chup lag ga_ii mudd'aa kahate kahate
ruke hai.n vo kyaa jaane kahate kahate

**If a ghazal has more than one matla (starting sher in which both lines 
rhyme), then the second one is called 'matla-e-saani'**

Look at the subtlety of this sher! Momin says that he fell silent while 
reciting his tale, to listen to what his beloved would say. But it is 
not a mere interruption. "ruke hai.n vo.." implies that she was also 
talking at the same time (obviously not to him), implying that she was 
paying scant attention to what he was saying. What a way to portray her 
'taGaaful' (neglect)!!


zabaa.N gu.ng hai ishq me.n gosh kar hai
buraa sunate sunate bhalaa kahate kahate

[gu.ng = dumb]

** my tongue has fallen silent, my ears have gone deaf
hearing only her casutic tongue, speaking only her praises**


shab-e-hijr me.n kyaa hajuum-e-balaa hai
zabaa.N thak ga_ii marhabaa kahate kahate

[shab-e-hijr = night of separation; hajuum = crowd]
[balaa = calamity; marhabaa = Encore! (A exclamation of extreme 
pleasure)]


sad afasos jaatii rahii vasl kii shab
"zaraa Thahar ai bevafaa" kahate kahate

[sad = a hundred;  afasos = regrets; vasl = union/meeting; shab = night]

** A point to ponder - who does Momin call bevafaa here? His mehbooba, 
who is wanting to leave, or the night, which seems to hasten the meeting 
of the lovers by passing so quickly.**


chale tum kahaa.N mai.n ne to dam liyaa thaa
fasaanaa-e-dil-e-zaar kaa kahate kahate

[fasaanaa = tale' dil-e-zaar = pain of the heart]


sitam haae! garduu.N mufassal na puuchho
ke sar phir gayaa maajaraa kahate kahate

**Don't ask me to elaborate on the tyrannies of fate
I have been driving myself crazy, repeating the tale**


nahii.n yaa sanam 'Momin' ab kufr se kuchh
ke Khuu ho ga_ii hai sadaa kahate kahate

**It is not blasphemy that brings up her name in my prayers
I repeat her name through sheer force of habit**


A beautiful ghazal. Momin manages to combine so many images in the 
ghazal. Even though each sher of a ghazal is supposed to be independent 
of the others, once can see the continuity of idea in the ashaar of this 
ghazal. The poet's deep-seated love, the maashooq's utter indifference 
to his state, the callousness with which his love is received, all are 
beautifully revealed in this ghazal.

It is said that Momin is perhaps the only shaayar, who never wrote an 
imperfect sher. His poems were always metrically correct, a fact that 
not even Meer and Ghalib can lay claim to. (Don't ask me for examples - 
I am merely quoting the commonly held belief in Urdu poetry circles)