— from the ghazal beginning “dard-e-dil paas-e-wafa jazba-e-imaan hona”, Brij Narayan Chakbast (1882–1926)
About this quote
देवनागरी
ज़िंदगी क्या है अनासिर में ज़ुहूर-ए-तरतीब
मौत क्या है इन्हीं अज्ज़ा का परेशाँ होना
اردو
زندگی کیا ہے عناصر میں ظہور ترتیب
موت کیا ہے انہیں اجزا کا پریشاں ہونا
English
What is life? The appearance of order among the elements. What is death? The scattering of those very parts.
What it means
Chakbast was a Kashmiri Pandit writing in Urdu, and this couplet is unusual in the tradition for answering a metaphysical question in physical terms: no soul, no judgement, just arrangement and its undoing. It is quoted at funerals by people who have no idea it is nearly a chemistry lesson.
What it teaches you
Take this as a definition, not a consolation, and notice that it offers nothing — no reunion, no reward, no meaning to be found. For some mourners that is exactly the relief, because nothing is being asked of them to believe. So when you are the one sitting with a grieving person, find out first whether they want meaning or want plain facts, and choose your words after that. Offering this couplet to someone who wanted comfort will read as coldness; offering comfort to someone who wanted the facts reads the same way.
अर्थ और सीख
ज़िंदगी यानी अनासिर का तरतीब में आ जाना, और मौत यानी उन्हीं अज्ज़ा का बिखर जाना। चकबस्त यहाँ रूह या हिसाब-किताब की बात नहीं करते — सिर्फ़ तरतीब और बिखराव की।
यह शेर तसल्ली नहीं, परिभाषा देता है — और कुछ लोगों के लिए यही राहत है, क्योंकि उनसे कुछ मानने को नहीं कहा जा रहा। दुख में बैठे व्यक्ति के पास जाने से पहले देख लीजिए कि उसे अर्थ चाहिए या सिर्फ़ सच्चाई।
Where it comes from
Verified against the collected work of Brij Narayan Chakbast (1882–1926) on Urdu Wikisource, in the poem beginning زندگی کیا ہے عناصر میں ظہور ترتیب (source). Devanagari transliteration and English rendering are our own.
