Aligarh Tarana

My father is an Aligarian. He did his schooling, and B. Sc. in Electrical Engineering from Aligarh Muslim University. I found this very interesting piece of history on the anthem of Aligarh from aligarhnama.blogspot.com:

Aligarh Tarana is to Aligarh Muslim University(AMU) what any college song is to a college. When Pandit Jawahar Lal Nehru visited Aligarh Muslim University, he enquired the students and authorities about their college song or something like it. Having got no concrete answer, he expressed his surprise by saying, "It is very strange that a prestigious university as AMU doesn't have its own college song. " These remarks put a student to unrest and he spent a restless night on this idea. The very next morning, he was ready with a masterpiece which went on to be reckoned as AMU Tarana after being sung at the Strachey Hall for the first time. What a tribute from a disciple to his Alma Mater !!! What a face saving act !!! That great student was Majaz Lakhnawi - the poet.

Majaz Lakhnawi is a very famous Urdu poet of India. His sister Safia Akhtar, was a teacher and writer herself. She married Jan Nisar Akhtar, another Urdu poet from India, and gave birth to Javed Akhtar, the Indian lyricist and script writer.

There are some good audio versions of the anthem, but the only ones I could find on youtube were these mortified Indian movie choirs that totally kill the original version I remember hearing from my childhood. Abbu had this tape of AMU with the original version.

Here is the roman script of the Aligarh Tarana:

ye meraa chaman hai meraa chaman, maiN apne chaman kaa bulbul huuN
sarshaar-e-nigaah-e-nargis huuN, paa-bastaa-e-gesuu-sumbul huuN

(chaman : garden; bulbul : nightingale; sarshaar : overflowing, soaked; nigaah : sight; nargis :flower, Narcissus; paa-bastaa : embedded; gesuu : tresses; sumbul : a plant of sweet odor)

har aan yahaaN sehbaa-e-kuhan ek saaGhar-e-nau meN dhaltii hai
kalioN se husn tapaktaa hai, phuuloN se javaanii ubaltii hai

(sehbaa-e-kuhan : old wine; saaGhar-e-nau : new goblet)

jo taaq-e-haram meN roshan hai, vo shamaa yahaaN bhii jaltii hai
is dasht ke goshe-goshe se, ek juu-e-hayaat ubaltii hai

(taaq-e-haram : vault in the sacred territory of Mecca; roshan : glowing; shamaa : flame; dasht : wilderness, desert; goshaa : corner; juu-e-hayaat : stream of life)

Islam ke is but-Khaane meN asnaam bhii haiN aur Aazaar bhii
tahziib ke is mai-Khaane meN shamshiir bhii hai aur saaGhar bhii

(but-Khaanaa : temple; asnaam : idols; Aazaar : Abraham’s father, an idol-worshipper; tahziib : culture; shamshiir : sword; saaGhar : wine goblet)

yaaN husn kii barq chamaktii hai, yaaN nuur kii baarish hotii hai
har aah yahaaN ek naGhmaa hai, har ashk yahaaN ek motii hai

(barq : lightening; nuur : light)

har shaam hai shaam-e-Misr yahaaN, har shab hai shab-e-Sheeraz yahaaN
hai saare jahaaN kaa soz yahaaN aur saare jahaaN kaa saaz yahaaN

(shaam-e-Misr : evenings of Egpyt; shab-e-Sheeraz : nights of Sheeraz, a famous city of Iran; soz : pain)

ye dasht-e-junuuN diivaanoN kaa, ye bazm-e-vafaa parvaanoN kii
ye shahr-e-tarab ruumaanoN kaa, ye Khuld-e-bariiN armaanoN kii

(dasht : desert, wilderness; junuuN : frenzy; bazm : gathering; vafaa : faithfulness; shahr-e-tarab : city of mirth; Khuld-e-bariiN : sublime paradise; armaan : hope)

fitrat ne sikhaii hai ham ko, uftaad yahaaN parvaaz yahaaN
gaaye haiN vafaa ke giit yahaaN, chheRaa hai junuuN kaa saaz yahaaN

(fitrat : nature; uftaad : beginning of life; parvaaz : flight; saaz : song on an instrument)

is farsh se hamne uR uR kar aflaak ke taare toRe haiN
nahiid se kii hai sargoshi, parviin se rishte joRe hain

(farsh : base; aflaak : heavens; nahiid : Venus; parviin : Pleiades)

is bazm meN teGheN khenchiiN haiN, is bazm meN saGhar toRe haiN
is bazm meN aanKh bichaa’ii hai, is bazm meN dil tak joRe haiN

(teGh : swords; saGhar : goblet)

is bazm meN neze khenche haiN, is bazm meN Khanjar chuume haiN
is bazm meN gir-gir taRpe haiN, is bazm meN pii kar jhuume haiN

(neze : spears; Khanjar : dagger; bazm : gathering)

aa aa kar hazaaroN baar yahaaN Khud aag bhii hamne lagaayii hai
phir saare jahaaN ne dekhaa hai ye aag hamiin ne bujha’ii hai

yahaaN ham ne kamandeN daalii haiN, yahaaN hamne shab-Khuun maare haiN
yahaaN ham ne qabaayeN nochii haiN, yahaaN hamne taaj utaare haiN

(kamand : a noose; shab-KhuuN : night raids; qabaayeN : flight)
har aah hai Khud taasiir yahaaN, har Khvaab hai Khud taabiir yahaaN
tadbiir ke paa-e-sangiiN per jhuk jaati hai taqdiir yahaaN

(aah : sigh; taasiir : effect; taabiir : interpretation; tadbiir : forethought; paa-e-sangiiN : firm footing; taqdiir : destiny)

zarraat kaa bosaa lene ko, sau baar jhukaa aakaash yahaaN
Khud aankh se ham ne dekhii hai, baatil kii shikast-e-faash yahaaN

(zarraat : dust; bosaa : kiss; baatil : evil; shikast-e-faash: clear defeat)

is gul-kadah paariinaa meN phir aag bhaRakne vaali hai
phir abr garajne vaale haiN, phir barq kaRakne vaali hai

(gul-kadah : garden; pariinaa : ancient; abr : cloud; barq : lightening)
jo abr yahaaN se uThThega, vo saare jahaaN par barsegaa
har juu-e-ravaan par barsegaa, har koh-e-garaaN par barsegaa

(abr : cloud; juu-e-ravaan : flowing streams; koh-e-garaaN : big mountains)

har sard-o-saman par barsegaa, har dasht-o-daman par barsegaa
Khud apne chaman par barsegaa, GhairoN ke chaman par barsegaa

(sard-o-saman : open and shelter; dasht-o-daman : wild and subdued; qasr-e-tarab : citadel of joy)

har shahr-e-tarab par garjegaa, har qasr-e-tarab par kaRkegaa
ye abr hameshaa barsaa hai, ye abr hameshaa barsegaa

(shahr-e-tarab : city of joy; qasr-e-tarab : citadel of joy)