===
0183,
16
===

 

{183,16}

par zulfoñ meñ muñh chhupā ke pūchhā
ab hovegī mīr kis qadar rāt

1) but having hidden her face in her curls, she asked,
2) 'Now how much, Mir, will there be [left] of the night?'

 

Notes:

S. R. Faruqi:

Another beauty of the meaning is that to open the mouth is the same as for dawn to come; and the lover's chief goal is that the night would not be finished. In this way the permissibility of hiding the face in the curls emerges. But not only this-- in fact, the curls spread out over the face have themselves become a metaphor for night.

That is, the beloved's curls spread out over her face are themselves a metaphor on the part of the beloved that there's still some of the night left. That is, the beloved too wants it not to be dawn; otherwise she wouldn't have covered her face with her curls.

Then, how excellently the pen-name has been used, so that it is a form of address, and also does the work of a pen-name! This too is Mir's special style.

[See the discussion of this whole verse-set in {183,12}.]

FWP:

SETS
MOTIFS == CURLS
NAMES
TERMS == IMPLICATION; PEN-NAME

This is the fifth and final verse of a five-verse 'verse-set'; for a full discussion, see {183,12}.

How rarely does the wretched lover have such a moment as this! The beloved is so indirect (asking a simple question about the time) and yet so flirtatious (suggesting that there should be more time for lovemaking)-- it's as excellent a use of 'implication' as can be imagined. And she's so coy (hiding behind her curls) and yet so available-- no wonder her charm almost killed the lover, as he told us anticipatorily in {183,12}.

Note for grammar fans: The hovegī is surely a presumptive.

 

 
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