Majaz and Origin of the song Khoya Khoya Chand

Jee mein aata hai murda sitare noch loon
Idhar bhi nooch loon udhar bhi noch loon
Ek do ka zikar kya mein sare nooch loon

I had a feeling about these lines when I first heard the song, a feeling that made me go, “Ok! Something miraculous just happened to a good but not so great a song!”
My cabbie was listening keenly to the song and started laughing every time he heard the words nooch loo. Maybe he knew what just happened. This is what happened after that: he changed the radio station. But, I couldn’t get the lines out of my mind. Why the nooch loo exhortation?

Then I found the answer:

The Urge to Fly has done a brilliant job at finding the genesis of the song Khoya Khoya Chand from Sudhir Mishra’s recent film of the same name.

The writer at his blog informs us in his in his diligent write-up that the origin of the song lies in the poetry of Urdu poet Majaz Lucknawi (real name Asrar ul Haq). Among many other observations he provides the answer to my query also. Kyun nooch lo ?
The lines that first made me ponder over the song find their origin in a nazam written by Majaz titled Aavaaraa.

The evocative nazam ends with the lines:

ai Gam-e-dil kyaa karuu.N ai vahashat-e-dil kyaa karuu.N


jii me.n aataa hai ye murdaa chaa.Nd-taare noch luu.N
is kinaare noch luu.N aur us kinaare noch luu.N
ek do kaa zikr kyaa saare ke saare noch luu.N


ai Gam-e-dil kyaa karuu.N ai vahashat-e-dil kyaa karuu.N

Partition of India left Majaz disillusioned like many other poets of his time. He fell ill and was not the same person after that. On a chilly winter night, a group of 'fans' left him all alone on a hotel roof after a late night drinking session. Majaz died alone in the bitter cold at the age of 44.

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A big thanks to Urge to fly!

Find more Ghazals and Nazms of Majaz Lucknawi at Aligarians.