0002_04

{2,4}

ab koft se hijrāñ kī jahāñ tan pah rakhā hāth
jo dard-o-alam thā so kahe tū kih vahīñ thā

1) now through the crushing/beating of separation, wherever on the body [someone] laid a hand
2) the pain and suffering that there was-- so to speak, it was right there

Notes:

koft : 'Beating; inlaying of gold (on steel, &c.);-- a blow, bruise; great fatigue, &c.; grief, sadness; crushing sorrow, anguish, pain; vexation'. (Platts p.863)

kahe tū is the same as goyā , goʾī ('as if'). goyā literally means 'saying,' and a variant is goʾiyā , which disappeared completely after the 1700's. goʾī means 'you say'. goyā won the day, and kahe tū , a direct translation of goʾī , lost out. Very often the Persian/Arabic original lost out to the translation; this is one of the rare instances of the translation losing out. (-- SRF, June 2006)

*Platts Dictionary Online*

S. R. Faruqi:

It's a common medical observation that in a place where pain is, especially if the pain is based on a wound or a break or a boil, if the place is touched then the pain becomes greater. With what excellence he has applied this experience to the pain of separation! The whole body is broken and emaciated; thus wherever one puts a hand, greater pain will be felt.

FWP:

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The use of not just any word for pain or injury, but koft with its overtones of beating, bruising, and crushing (see the definition above), works well with the idea that the pressure of a sympathetic hand would increase the pain right at that spot.

Another example of kahe tū : {313,2}.