===
0088,
3
===
 

{88,3}

ik vahm sii rahii hai apnii namuud tan me;N
aate ho ab to aa))o phir ham me;N kyaa rahegaa

1) it has remained as something like a single/particular/unique/excellent illusion/fancy, our apparentness in the body
2) if you [mean to] come, come now-- later/'then', what will remain in us?

 

Notes:

vahm : 'Thinking, imagining, conceiving (esp. a false idea); —opinion, conjecture; imagination, idea, fancy'. (Platts p.1205)

 

namuud : 'The being or becoming apparent, visibleness; appearance; —prominence, conspicuousness; —show; —affectation; —display; —pomp; —honour, character, celebrity'. (Platts p.1154)

*Platts Dictionary Online*

S. R. Faruqi:

He's supposed our namuud (that is, our being manifest, being present) to be separate from the body. But he has also not construed it as the life-- this style is fine. Then by calling it an 'illusion' he has created additional pleasure-- that something like an illusion of our presence remains, and people are simply mistaken when they think that we're manifest and present.

Ghalib has taken this theme much farther:

G{138,7}.

But in Ghalib's verse, ;Gam ne mi;Taa diyaa is the bearer of unnecessary explanation. Mir's negative rhetorical question is very fine, and in Ghalib's verse too the question has uncommon power.

In Mir's second line there's sorrow, and also a kind of doomedness [bar-kashtagii]; in contrast to this, in Ghalib's verse there's sadness that no one will believe his words. In Mir's tone there's a carelessness, as though he suggests that if you don't come, you're the one who will suffer harm.

Compare:

{48,7},

{741,2},

{324,4}.

In order to see the difference between 'mood' and 'theme-creation', place beside Mir's verse this verse of Nasim Dihlavi's. In Mir's verse there's so much 'mood' that in the first line one isn't even struck by the great excellence of the theme. In Nasim's verse, there's only 'theme-creation':

aa kahii;N va((dah-faraamosh kih fur.sat kam hai
dam ko))ii dam me;N qadam-bos-e qa.zaa hota hai

[come somehow, vow-forgetter, for the time is short
the breath, in some moments/breaths, is a footstep-kisser of death]

[See also {328,6}.]

FWP:

SETS == EK
MOTIFS
NAMES
TERMS == MOOD; THEME-CREATION

Nasim's second line has some wonderful sound effects, though-- DAM ko))ii DAM me;N qaDAM-bos-e qa.zaa. The rhythmic 'dam' drumbeats, then the two qa syllables that unite the drumbeat with death.