0108_01

{108,1}

terā ruḳh-e muḳhat̤t̤at̤ qurʾān hai hamārā
bosah bhī leñ to kyā hai īmān hai hamārā

1) your face with its lines of down is our Qur'an
2) if we would take even/also a kiss, then so what?-- it's our faith/belief!

Notes:

muḳhat̤t̤at̤ : 'Marked with lines, or streaks, &c., streaked, striped; —having the down or hair of the beard appearing (in the form of lines) on the side of the face, &c. (a youth); —beautiful, handsome, comely'. (Platts p.1012)

īmān : 'Belief (particularly in God, and in His word and apostles, &c.); faith, religion, creed; conscience; good faith, trustworthiness, integrity'. (Platts p.115)

*Platts Dictionary Online*

S. R. Faruqi:

Even in a verse of verbal display [laffāz̤ī] and playfulness [ḳhvush-t̤abaʿī], Mir doesn't refrain from bringing out a point. The time when the beloved begins to have down on his cheeks-- how indirectly, but mischievously, the speaker has praised this time and expressed his passion!

A [light-complexioned] 'book-like' [kitābī] face is considered beautiful; thus the beloved's face is also called muṣḥaf (a book, especially the Qur'an). In a book lines have been drawn (that is, they write books on pages on which lines have been drawn [to guide the calligrapher]); such pages are called muḳhat̤t̤at̤ . From this, another meaning has arisen: that the face on which there would be lines (that is, hair) would be the kind of manuscript of the Qur'an on which lines would be drawn beneath the text; that too is called muḳhat̤t̤at̤ .

Now another 'proof' of the face's being a Qur'an has become available. For since by way of respect people kiss the Qur'an, if we would give a kiss to the beloved's face, then it will be precisely according to faith/belief. By saying īmān hai hamārā he has also suggested that only/emphatically to give kisses to the beloved is our faith/belief (that is, it is our religious sect [mażhab]). To use subject and theme with such mischievousness, but not to become vulgar [mubtażal], is a rare accomplishment.

FWP:

SETS == WORDPLAY
MOTIFS == [BELOVED IS A BOY]; ISLAMIC
NAMES
TERMS == PROOF

SRF has explicated the wordplay in very helpful detail, and has pointed to the witty and playful tone of the verse.

For more examples of Mir's verses in which the beloved is a beautiful youth, see {60,3}.