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| Kheewa Stop on Chiniot - Jhang Road: Village of Sahiban |
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صاحباں پڑھدی پٹیاں، مرزا پڑھے قرآن
وچ مسیت دے لگیاں، جانے کل جہان
Sahiban was taught her tricks, Mirza was to learn Quran
They got befriended in the mosque, so that the
world came to know of their love
نہ مار قاضی چھمکاں، نہ دے تتی نوں تاء
پڑھنا ساڈا رہ گیا، لے آءے عشق لکھا
Don’t bring on us the punishments O Teacher!
what the heat would do where the things
are
fired up already;
Your tutoring has gone obsolete; we have the
divinity of love prescribed for us
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| The hut inside what the graves of Mirza and Sahiban are located |
مرزے تھیں کھاون پیون مجلساں بھل گئی سب
جا
جس ترنجن وچ صاحباں، کوئی اوتھے نقارا وجا
ایھہ کٹ کٹ کیتا کند لے برہوں دے کے تا
کون بجھائے حافظا جاں اگ لگے دریا
(Having parted from Sahiban) Mirza lost all
the appetite for life;
Somebody to go to the gathering of Sahiban
and shout out (the suffering of Mirza);
The love tears life into bits of pain,
putting tears to fire;
O Hafiz Barkhurdar! How to put out the fire
that lights up the waters?
صاحباں اتن کتن بھل گیا، عشق رچیا وانگ
ہفیم
سکن سول فراق غم بنھ دھکی صفاں غنیم
پانی اندر لونگ وانگ گھل گھل پھہے سقیم
پیا وچھوڑا یار دا، کلوتر کرس دو نیم
Sahiban mystified by the love (of Mirza),
became oblivious of her own routine;
The torments of (Mirza’s) departure pushed
her to the hostile flank of life;
Just as you put clove into a pile of water
and it gets dissolved overtime;
She
was parted from her lover, and such a divide broke her being into two pieces |
| The Graves: Right to Left; Sahiban (covered with blue), Mirza Jatt and Wanjhal Khan (father of Mriza) |
Bakki
Bakki,
Mirza's mare comes to play her part in the tale as the companion of Mirza whom
he trusted while taking Sahiban from Khewa to Danabad being chased by brothers
of Sahiban. Interestingly Sahiban puts forth her concerns on the physical
appearance of Bakki and Mirza replies with counterarguments:
ماڑی تیری ٹیرکی ، مرزا لیایاں
کدھروں ٹور
سکا ایہدا چوکٹا، کاواں
کھاہدی کنگروڑ
جے گھر نئیں سی تیرے باپ دے، منگ لیاؤندوں ہور
گھوڑے کھیوے خان دے، بڑے
مراتب خور
بھجیاں نوں جان نہ دین گے، ادھل گئیاں دے
چور
Your mare is weak Mirza, from where you have laid your hands onto her!
So slim is her frame, as if crows have been feeding on her back;
If there was no good animal in your household, should have borrowed one;
The horses of Khewa (my brothers would be riding on), are the strong backs;
They shall never let us flee, and we shall be caught like the fleeing thieves
دس مہیناں دا گھیو دتا، بکی دے ڈھڈ پا
بکی توں ڈرن فرشتے، میتھوں ڈرے خدا
چڑھنا اپنے شوق نوں، بکی نوں لاج نہ لا
(Mirza defends Bakki:)
For ten months I have fed Bakki on pure feed;
Once I am galloping on her, angels would fear Bakki and the Lord Himself would fear me;
She is one favorite ride, don't disgrace her with your words (O Sahiban)!
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| The Grave of Bakki, outside the hut hosting graves of Mirza and Sahiban |
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A masculine (to an
extent of macho) lover;
an apparently fragile yet strong at the core beauty, as the beloved;
an aide or a distraction: a character essentially not from human species growing stronger as the plot develops;
all the sweetness of love shrouded in the obvious tragic ending;
of all the love’s ills, death, simultaneous for both our lovers as they are compelled to part ways;
and a folk story is born...
At the face of it a folk tale appears to be a tragic saga quite depressing in its contents. What makes folk stories special is the setting, principally rural in which these get developed, their accounts remembered by heart and passed onto generations and the way these are celebrated as integral part of our folk culture.
an apparently fragile yet strong at the core beauty, as the beloved;
an aide or a distraction: a character essentially not from human species growing stronger as the plot develops;
all the sweetness of love shrouded in the obvious tragic ending;
of all the love’s ills, death, simultaneous for both our lovers as they are compelled to part ways;
and a folk story is born...
At the face of it a folk tale appears to be a tragic saga quite depressing in its contents. What makes folk stories special is the setting, principally rural in which these get developed, their accounts remembered by heart and passed onto generations and the way these are celebrated as integral part of our folk culture.
 |
| Outskirts of Danabad, The Jand Tree Complex : Where the Climax of Mirza Sahiban was Staged |
Mirza Sahiban is
one folk tale like many others, yet it’s different in many accounts. It’s
different as Mirza Jatt infiltrates into the very den of Sahiban’s Household
and filches his love setting course for Danabad….
بھج دانابادچلئیے، مرزیا چڑھیاں اوہدیاں
واراں
It’s different as
right in the heat of the chase by Sahiban’s brothers, she put Mirza at
disadvantage hoping a compromise between her lover and her brothers…
اک پاسے ماں جائے دوجی طرف دلاں دا جانی
It’s different as
it sets up in my very own Apna Punjab (Danabad and Kheewa – the lands of
Faisalabad and Jhang).
گھر کھیوے دے صاحباں، جمی منگل وار
رج دعائیں دتیاں، سوھنئیں پر وار
رل تدبیراں بدھیاں، چھیل ہوئی مٹیار
In a
household of Kheewa, Sahiban was born, the day was Tuesday;
Such was the
charm of her beauty that everyone bequeathed scores of prayers on her;
Nature
crafted its own procedures in blessing her with all the bounties of the
youth
گھر ونجھل دے مرزا، جمیاں کرڑے بار
جنم دتے مائی باپ نے، روپ دتا کرتار
ایسا مرزا سورماں، کھرلاں دا سردار
In the
family of Wanjhal Khan, Mirza Jatt was born;
Born of his
parents, Mirza was blessed with a persona by the Lord;
Daring by
birth, Mirza Jatt grew up to be the leader of the Kharals (of Danabad)
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Sandal Bar is a fertile piece of land between Rivers Ravi and Chenab.
Before the development of irrigation system the land was thickly forested and
inhabited by a number of interrelated tribes. Of these tribes were Kharrals of
Danabad and Sials of Jhang. Jand is what a Bunyan tree is called in Punjabi.
The Jand tree earned its place in Punjabi culture as Jandola of Sandal
Bar through the folk tale of Mirza Sahiban. Eloping with Sahiban from the Sials
of Kheewa on Bakki’s back, Mirza was tempted by the soothing shades of Jand
Tree on the outskirts of Danabad. Sahiban, sensing the danger of her brothers
on their trail, urged Mirza to rush up to Danabad. Here ensues a dialogue
between Mirza and Sahiban that has been poetically retold by many and is the
most celebrated part of the folklore whenever the tale of Mirza Sahiban is performed.
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| The Jand Tree - Mirza and Sahiban met their Climax |
Mirza…
نی توں ویکھ جنڈولہ بار دا، ایہدی کیسی چھاں وی بنٹریں
جنیاں پوراں نال زمین دے، ایتھے پیندی نئیں نہ کنڑیں
گھوڑی کیوں دوپہرٰیں مارئیے، کیہڑی سر تے ساڑ بنڑیں
تینوں لے چلاں دن ڈیگرے،
نی توں دانا باد
وڑیں
"Just see the Jand (tree) of (Sandal) Bar, how shady are its comforts!
So thick are the branches
that even the rain drops can’t find a route to the ground;
What’s the hurry at our end? Why
to kill our mare (Bakki) under the scorching sun;
I shall take you by daybreak,
and you shall enter Danabad"
Sahiban …
رات چنے دی چاننی وت چوراں وٹ لئی چپ
ہن تیرے میرے عشق دی کوئی نہ رہ گئی لک
چھاویں بہیئے اوسدی جیہڑا ہتھیں لائیے رکھ
لے چل دانا با د نوں مرزیا جاہن تکاوے مک
"Just as it’s true that on a
moonlit night the thieves manoeuvre quietly;
It’s also true that my love
with you now is left with nothing hidden;
It’s also true that the shade
of only that tree is reliable that you grow by your own hands;
Take me Danabad O Mirza! Only
then we shall be shedding our fatigue"
Mirza in his own might
preferred to rest under the Jand Tree and eventually was reached by Sahiban’s
brothers. Sensing the danger to her brothers against the superior archery of
Mirza and hoping for a compromise, Sahiban slung all of Mirza’s arches on the
Jand Tree putting him at a dire disadvantage. Mirza was eventually killed under
the Jand Tree by Sahiban’s brothers and seeing the dreadful end to her love,
Sahiban killed herself with Mirza’s sword. The Jand Tree bears witness to the
tragic climax of Mirza Sahiban.
مرزے وچ بڑے گمان سی، پھیر سوں گیا جنڈورے
پاس
میں ول ول وڈھ دیاں گا سورمیں، دئیوں پور کھپا
میں جھٹ کو ٹھوںکا لا لین دے، ستے نوں نہ
جگا
دن چڑھدے نوں چلاں گے، تینوں لے چلاں داناباد
ہونی مرزے دی کد پئی، رلی سیالاں دے نال
چھٹی کانی غضب دی، لے گئی مرزے نوں نال
روح مرزے دی نکل گئی، لگی جنڈورے نال
"Mirza muddled in his own strength,
went on to sleep under the Jand Tree;
I shall slay every soul once
they reach here, and shall finish their count;
Let me doze off for a while, just
don’t rouse me from my sleep;
We shall resume our journey
on daybreak, and I shall take you to Danabad;
Hence, fate came across
Mirza, as Sahiban switched sides with Sials;
The ferocious events ensued,
and swayed Mirza with it;
His soul evaded Mirza, his
body left stranded by the Jand Tree"
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