Alif zabar aa alif zer ae alif pesh o
Posted on: July 1, 2010
“Love In Shimla” (1960) has a song that is basically a recitation of the Urdu alphabet that goes “Alif Zabar aa alif zer ae alif pesh o” which is sort of like ” A se anaar aa se aam” of Hindi or “A for apple B for Bat…” in English. For one who has studied Urdu, writing down the lyrics of this song would be a cakewalk. I am not familiar with the Urdu alphabet and as a result, the lyrics of this song is Greek (rather Urdu) to me. I had planned to post this song in the past, but I could not do so mostly because I was unable to follow the lyrics.
Now that I have received a farmaish for this song from Veena Seth, I mustered renewed courage to try and note down the lyrics. This time I have been able to note down the lyrics fairly accurately, except in the last stanza, where Rafi sings so fast that I have been unable to keep up. I request readers to correct me/ fill up the gaps in the lyrics as required so that music lovers may be able to enjoy this song in a more knowledgeable manner.
The song is sung by Rafi and Asha Bhonsle and it is picturised on Joy Mukherji and a kid (who is he ?), with Sadhana also visible. Rajinder Krishan is the lyricist and he had obviously learnt Urdu as a kid in the same manner. Iqbal Qureshi is the music director.
Audio
Video
Song-Alif zabar aa alif zer ae alif pesh o (Love In Shimla) (1960) Singers-Rafi, Asha Bhonsle, Lyrics-Rajinder Krishan, MD-Iqbal Qureshi
Lyrics
alif zabar aa alif zer ae alif pesh o
aji bejabar baa bejar be bepesh bo
alif se abban abinabi hurman
aban abauwwa
be se babban
babinabi hurman
baban babauwwaa
alif zabar aa alif zer ae alif pesh o
alif se allah
be se bhagwan
aur pe se parwaanaa
aur pe se parwaanaa
jo na maane shamaa ko deepak
hogaa koi deewaanaa
hogaa koi deewaanaa
waah
alif zabar aa alif zer ae alif pesh o
aji bejabar baa bejar be befish bo
alif se abban abinabi hurman
aban abauwwa
be se babban
babinabi hurman
baban babauwwa
alif zabar aa alif zer ae alif pesh o
ka se kauwwaa
kaaf kabootar
gain gatargoon bole
gain gatargoon bole
na se naiyya
daal se dil ki
hai se haay dole
hai se haay dole
haay
alif zabar aa alif zer ae alif pesh o
aji bejabar baa bejar be befish bo
alif se abban abinabi hurman
aban abauwwa
be se babban
babinabi hurman
baban babauwwa
alif zabar aa alif zer ae alif pesh o
cheem se choohaa
che se chori
phir seedhi kotwaali
phir seedhi kotwaali
meem se mehnat do haathon ki
aur khe se khushhaali
aur khe se khushhaali
haan
alif zabar aa alif zer ae alif pesh o
aji bejabar baa bejar be befish bo
alif se abban abinabi hurman
aban abauwwa
be se babban
babinabi hurman
baban babauwwa
alif zabar aa alif zer ae alif pesh o
alif be pe t’e te se
jeem Cheem hai Khai d’al dal
zal re rde ze seen sheen
suad zuad toey zoey aeen gaeen
fe kaaf ke ge laam meem
Noon wao ha Hamza yee ye
alif zabar aa alif zer ae alif pesh o
27 Responses to "Alif zabar aa alif zer ae alif pesh o"
July 1, 2010 at 2:53 pm
hey atul
going by Sadhana’s look in this movie it her debut movie “Love In Shimla” this was also Joy Mukherjee’s debut. the lady who is shown sleeping at the start of the song is Asra who plays Sadhana’s sister in this movie. she was the one in the “Junglee” song “Ai yay ya sukku sukku” with Shammi Kapoor
but the little boy’s identity is still the mystery.
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July 1, 2010 at 9:40 pm
Wow, what a song!
Never heard it before and now I am totally in love with it.
Thanks to you and Veena Seth.
I have not seen Love in Simla but from what I have read it was a massive hit. This is now yet another reason to see it.
This song is now on replay. Have already heard it 4 times. Cannot get enough of it.
Rafi saab’s voice is just so great!!!
And you have done a fantastic job here, Atul. I can imagine that this must have been quite a difficult transliteration job – what with the Urdu and speed of the song. Great !!! I did try myself to catch what Rafi saab sings in the end but it was Shoiab Akhtar-ish for me too. 🙂 I am only an FTB. 😉
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July 2, 2010 at 7:45 am
Thank you all. This was one song whose lyrics was not available anywhere else till now, so I can be proud on being the first to provide the lyrics of this song.
This was the debut movie of Joy Mukherji and Sadhana ? This is a good tidbit.
Raja, you are right, trying to write down the lyrics felt like facing Murli’s doosra, teesra and chauthaa and then suddenly Shoiab Akhtar’s pace, all in the same over.
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July 9, 2010 at 5:08 pm
A B C D chhodo, nainon se naina joddo.. from ‘Raja Jani’ lyrics by Anand Bakshi, cab be added in this category…
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October 27, 2010 at 4:22 pm
Indeed this song blows your mind. Rafi is great in this song but let us not forget the creativity of Rajinder Krishan and Iqbal Qureshi.
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May 15, 2011 at 6:14 pm
Last part is actually Urdu alphabet which is alif – ye (A-Z of english)
It is very difficult to get it exactly right in the roman script, but i have tried:
alif(A) be(B) pe(P) t’e(t) te(T) se(s)
jeem(J) Cheem(Ch) hai(H) Khai(KH) d’al(d) dal(d)
zal(z) re(R) rde(d) ze(z) seen(s) sheen(sh)
suad(s) zuad(z) toey(t) zoey(z) aeen(a) gaeen(g)
fe(f) kaaf(q) ke(k) ge(g) laam(L) meem(M)
Noon(N) wao(w,o) ha(H) Hamza(h) yee(Y,I) ye (y,i)
In the lyrics it will go like this :
alif be pe t’e te se
jeem Cheem hai Khai d’al dal
zal re rde ze seen sheen
suad zuad toey zoey aeen gaeen
fe kaaf ke ge laam meem
Noon wao ha Hamza yee ye
alif zabar aa alif zer ae alif pesh o
Zabar, zer and pesh are actually joining element which make a word from a set of alphabets (Like vowels in english).
Anand Bakshi has referred to this same Zer-o-zabar in a song in “Ek duje ke liye” (Song “Solah baras ki baali umer”) in this line :
Milte rahe yahan ham yeh hai yahan likha
is likhawat ki zer-o-zabar ko salaam
Regards.
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May 15, 2011 at 6:32 pm
Thanks for the detailed explanation. It will be very useful for several Urdu enthusiasts like me,Raja etc.
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May 16, 2011 at 4:00 pm
How about replacing the last para:
alif pe pe pe pe pe
khim ???
daa ???
teen ???
??? ge ge ge ge
khim ???
london hai ye he he he
alif zabar aa alif zer ae alif pesh o
With this :
alif be pe t’e te se
jeem Cheem hai Khai d’al dal
zal re rde ze seen sheen
suad zuad toey zoey aeen gaeen
fe kaaf ke ge laam meem
Noon wao ha Hamza yee ye
alif zabar aa alif zer ae alif pesh o
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May 16, 2011 at 4:23 pm
Thanks a lot for the words in the last para, which were far too quickly sung for many of us. I have made the necessary corrections in the lyrics now.
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August 27, 2011 at 7:58 pm
Atul,
Thanks for taking so much pains in deciphering a gem of a song.Much appreciate Nahms contribution too. Such a complex song was delivered flawlessly by our own Mohammad Rafi without as much as missing a beat. Absolute genius.
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August 27, 2011 at 9:25 pm
Thanks for the appreciation. Getting the lyrics right and complete is one of the things we take pride in.
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August 28, 2011 at 6:45 am
I had heard this song when the film was released but got edged out by other popular songs of this film. Now that lyrics are in front of me and I know that these represent the first stage of learning Urdu, I could appreciate this song.
Hats off to all those associated with making one of the unique songs in the Hindi films and also to Atul and nahm who made lot of efforts to decipher the lyrics.
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November 9, 2011 at 11:42 am
This is a master piece song. Very few songs are created like this one.
Every time you listen to this song fell in love with it. Though its a forgotten song thanks Atul for reviving it.
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March 13, 2012 at 10:57 am
Heard this song when I was a teenager and liked due to its “anokhe bol”. For Hindi speaking people like me, isn’t it “anokhe bol”? I knew that the lyrics was some sort of Urdu alphabets. Thanks very much for giving the lyrics.
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March 31, 2012 at 5:04 pm
Thank you so much for the lyrics.The song is brilliant and your efforts must be appreciated to facilitate easy learning of the difficult urdu alphabets.
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February 10, 2013 at 7:14 pm
Briliiant effort. I am trying to learn the urdu alphabet and this will be very useful. A small correction to the chorus:
alif zabar aa alif zer ae alif pesh o
aji bezabar baa bezer be bepesh bo
It is a bit like the matras in hindi ba par ee ki matra baa, ba par ae ki matra bae, ba par o ki matra bo… Hope this helps. I am sure the rest of the stanza means something too, but my urdu hasn’t progressed that much yet.
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September 13, 2014 at 11:38 am
@ Atul ji – Nahm ji – thanks !!
Whenever I remember this movie ‘Love in Simla-1960’, this is the song that immediately comes to my mind. And knowing that it was about Urdu – ABCD, I was interested to go through this song-post. And also reading Atul ji’s post I was specially looking for Nahm ji’s comments and find it all here.
So, thanks to all !!
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August 12, 2016 at 9:34 pm
Revisiting the post after a long time, following observations :
1. The co-singer in this duet is Sudha Malhotra as per myswar.com.
http://myswar.com/song_details/love-in-simla-1960-alif-zabar-ah-4
This can be confirmed from geetkosh.
2. Rajinder Krishan had not learnt the Urdu alphabet as evident in this line:
ka se kauwwaa
kaaf kabootar
Kabootar is also staring with ‘ ka ‘ and not ‘kaaf’ .
3. Correction in lyrics
stanza –
” jeem se juvva ”
che se chori
mukhda –
alif zabar aa alif zer ae alif pesh o
‘ aji be zabar baa be zer be be pesh bo ‘
4. Better quality audio and video :
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kr-QI3WTGck
5. Learnt from a somewhere that the child in the film is Kiran Kumar. This can be checked from the films credits.
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August 12, 2016 at 10:21 pm
I have checked for point no. 1 in HFGK. Yes the HFGK Vol III mentions the singers for this song as Mohd Rafi, Sudha Malhotra and chorus (?).
In the cast there is a name of Master Ramesh , is he the child artist? (knowledgeable readers can throw light on this please)
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August 16, 2022 at 8:28 am
It may be “be se baghban” (gardener) and not *bhagwan*. Urdu doesn’t have भ in its alphabets. By the way ‘be’ in this song is ब ( ب)
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Atul’s Song A Day- A choice collection of Hindi Film & Non-Film Songs 
July 1, 2010 at 9:05 am
that was fantastic.now i will be able to enjoy it more.thanks.
incidentally i couldn’t find Iqbal Qureshi’s work of “Banarsi Thug”(1962) in your blog which has some beautiful songs.
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