پیار کیا تو ڈرنا کیا Pyar Kiya To Darna Kya — If I Have Loved, Why Should I Be Afraid

Shakeel Badayuni

1916– 1970

Geet

A woman is standing in front of an emperor, in a hall lined with mirrors, telling him that she loves his son and has no intention of pretending otherwise. This is the moment she stops being careful, and she does it in front of the entire court.

Shakeel Badayuni wrote it for Mughal-e-Azam in 1960, Naushad set it, and Lata Mangeshkar sang it. Four couplets ahead. Every one of them is a question with the answer already settled before it is asked.

01 — pyar kiya to darna kya jab pyar kiya to darna kya

پیار کیا تو ڈرنا کیا جب پیار کیا تو ڈرنا کیا
پیار کیا کوئی چوری نہیں کی چھپ چھپ آہیں بھرنا کیا

प्यार किया तो डरना क्या जब प्यार किया तो डरना क्या
प्यार किया कोई चोरी नहीं की छुप छुप आहें भरना क्या

pyar kiya to darna kya jab pyar kiya to darna kya
pyar kiya koi chori nahin ki chhup chhup aahen bharna kya

If I have loved, why should I be afraid? I have loved. I have not committed a theft. What is the point of sighing in hiding?

The argument is made in one line and it is a legal one. A theft has somebody it was taken from. Loving has nobody. So the whole apparatus of concealment, the sighing behind doors, has no offence to attach itself to. Kya at the end of both lines means what, or why, or what for, and it is a question that does not expect an answer so much as decline to receive one.

چوری chori: theft
آہ بھرنا aah bharna: to sigh, to draw a long breath of grief

02 — aaj kahenge dil ka fasana jaan bhi le le chahe zamana

آج کہیں گے دل کا فسانہ جان بھی لے لے چاہے زمانہ
موت وہی جو دنیا دیکھے گھٹ گھٹ کر یوں مرنا کیا

आज कहेंगे दिल का फ़साना जान भी ले ले चाहे ज़माना
मौत वही जो दुनिया देखे घुट घुट कर यूँ मरना क्या

aaj kahenge dil ka fasana jaan bhi le le chahe zamana
maut vahi jo duniya dekhe ghut ghut kar yun marna kya

Today I will tell the story of my heart, and the world can take my life for it if it wants. The only death is the one the world sees. What kind of dying is this, choking a little at a time?

The danger arrives in the second line. She is not weighing life against death. She has already conceded the death and is now choosing between two versions of it. Ghut ghut kar, choking bit by bit, is what she has been doing until now, and she is classifying it as the worse option.

فسانہ fasana: a story, a tale people tell
گھٹنا ghutna: to be stifled, to choke, to suffocate slowly

03 — un ki tamanna dil mein rahegi shama isi mehfil mein rahegi

ان کی تمنا دل میں رہے گی شمع اسی محفل میں رہے گی
عشق میں جینا عشق میں مرنا اور ہمیں اب کرنا کیا

उन की तमन्ना दिल में रहेगी शम्अ इसी महफ़िल में रहेगी
'इश्क़ में जीना 'इश्क़ में मरना और हमें अब करना क्या

un ki tamanna dil mein rahegi shama isi mehfil mein rahegi
ishq mein jeena ishq mein marna aur hamein ab karna kya

The longing for him will stay in my heart. The candle will stay in this very gathering. To live in love, to die in love, and what else is there for me to do now?

The candle is the object every gathering is arranged around, and it is also the thing the moth dies in, so putting it in the room and leaving it there is a promise and a forecast at once. Then the last line lists what remains, and the list has two items which turn out to be the same item. Karna kya, what is there to do, is asked without any hope of a third option.

تمنا tamanna: longing, the wish for something
شمع shama: a candle; what a gathering sits around, and what the moth dies in

04 — chhup na sakega ishq hamara charon taraf hain un ka nazara

چھپ نہ سکے گا عشق ہمارا چاروں طرف ہیں ان کا نظارہ
پردہ نہیں جب کوئی خدا سے بندوں سے پردہ کرنا کیا

छुप न सकेगा 'इश्क़ हमारा चारों तरफ़ हैं उन का नज़ारा
पर्दा नहीं जब कोई ख़ुदा से बंदों से पर्दा करना क्या

chhup na sakega ishq hamara charon taraf hain un ka nazara
parda nahin jab koi khuda se bandon se parda karna kya

Our love will not be able to stay hidden. The sight of him is on all four sides. And when there is no veil between me and God, what would be the use of keeping one from His servants?

The winning argument, and it is theology rather than defiance. Parda is the veil and also the whole system of keeping things out of view. Her case is that concealment is only ever from somebody who does not already know, and the one who matters knows. Which leaves everybody in the hall, the emperor included, in the category of bande, servants, people with no standing to be hidden from.

نظارہ nazara: a sight, a view; the seeing of something
پردہ parda: a veil; the whole practice of keeping out of view
بندہ banda: a servant; what a believer calls himself before God

Reading it whole

Refusing to be ashamed is only the song's starting point. What lifts it above a declaration is that it argues its case. Loving somebody is not theft. That is the opening move, and it is a legal distinction rather than a romantic one. A crime has somebody it was done to. This does not. So there is nothing to conceal, and therefore nothing to be frightened of, and the whole song follows from those two sentences.

Then it goes considerably further than defiance. Today I will tell the story of my heart, even if the world takes my life for it. And then a definition: the only death worth the name is the one the world watches. What sort of dying is it to choke quietly? She is not choosing between living and dying at all. She is choosing between two kinds of death, and taking the public one.

The third couplet goes very quiet, and nothing else here works quite like it. The longing will stay in the heart, and the candle will stay in this gathering. Whatever becomes of her, the room stays lit. Then, quite flatly: to live in love, to die in love, and what is there left for me to do now? There is no boast in that. It is a list of the remaining options, and there are two of them, and they are the same one.

And the last couplet wins the argument. Our love cannot be hidden; the sight of him is on every side. There is no veil between us and God, so what is the point of keeping one from His creatures? That is a theological case, made by a courtesan, to an emperor, in a court that ran entirely on protocol. If the highest authority already knows, everybody underneath it is just an audience.

Naushad set it, and Lata Mangeshkar sings it without a trace of pleading anywhere in it. On screen it is Madhubala in the hall of mirrors, where every surface hands the emperor another angle on somebody who will not look away.

Recordings

Lata Mangeshkar

From Mughal-e-Azam, 1960, composed by Naushad, picturised on Madhubala.

Text and rights

Devanagari text supplied and checked by a reader who knows the language. The Urdu script and the transliteration follow that reading.

From Mughal-e-Azam, released in 1960, composed by Naushad. The refrain returns between couplets in the recording.

Shakeel Badayuni died in 1970, so this poem is still in copyright. It is quoted here as the subject of Harf's own criticism: the translation, the reading of each couplet and the essay around them are original work written for this page. If you hold the rights and would like something changed, tell us on Instagram.