===
0007,
3
===

 

{7,3}

ḥarf nahīñ jāñ-baḳhshī meñ us kī ḳhūbī apnī qismat kī
ham se jo pahle kah bhejā so marne kā paiġhām kiyā

1) there's no {alteration / crookedness / reproach} about her life-bestowingness; it's the excellence of our own fortune--
2) when she first sent us [something], thus she gave a message of death

 

Notes:

ḥarf : 'Changing, altering; ... a crooked pen; writing obliquely; ... --blame, censure, reproach, stigma, animadversion'. (Platts p.476)

*Platts Dictionary Online*

FWP:

SETS
MOTIFS == LIFE/DEATH
NAMES
TERMS

[This verse does not appear in SSA.]

How cruel of SRF to have omitted this one! I'm extremely fond of it. The only reason that I can think of for him to have omitted it is that its basic theme is found in many other verses-- but rarely, it seems to me, in such a clever, witty, multivalent way.

The very first message the beloved sent to the lover was, in effect, 'drop dead'. Most enjoyably, there are so many tones in which the verse can be read, so that the same message can be framed, and evaluated, in more than one way. Here are some possible tonal readings of the situation:

= 'Oh no, honestly, it's not her fault, she's the great life-bestower-- it must be just be my own 'good' (hah!) luck that's to blame. After all, I've had luck like this all my life, so why shouldn't the hostility of fate continue to the end?'

= 'How could it be her fault, oh no no-- she's the great life-bestower after all, how could I blame her? She's beyond blame! I naturally take all the responsibility myself.' (But the sarcastic tone clearly implies that the blame is hers.)

= 'Just look, here's proof of her life-givingness, in case anybody had any doubts: she bestowed on me the most excellent fortune possible. Why, the very first message she ever sent me was the consummate one that every lover truly desires! What could be more sublime than to be at once tested and accepted, and given that supreme command? I am surely the most fortunate of lovers!'

The verse also offers an elegant wordplay on ḥarf (see the definition above), in its multiple senses. (1) There's no 'change, alteration' in the beloved's life-bestowingness, because the death message too may well be a sign of favor, and thus of life-bestowingness, on her part. (2) There's no 'crooked pen' or 'oblique writing' either-- which goes well with the idea of her sending a 'message' that is very straightforward. (3) There's no 'reproach, stigma' attached to her life-bestowingness, because the death message is due to the lover's 'good fortune', not to any culpable behavior on the beloved's part.

Here we're right up against the mystical power of the lover's passion: the fundamental pain-is-pleasure, death-is-life paradox at the heart of the ghazal world.

Compare Ghalib's treatment of the same general idea:

G{36,2}.

 

 
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