0377_15

{377,15}

nahīñ reg-e ravāñ majnūñ ke dil kī be-qārārī ne
kiyā hai muẓt̤arib har żarrah-e gard-e bayābāñ ko

1) it's not 'shifting sand'-- the restlessness of Majnun's heart
2) has made agitated/perturbed, every grain of the dust of the desert

Notes:

reg-e ravāñ : 'Moving or shifting sand, quicksand; sand agitated as waves (by the wind)'. (Platts p.612)

muẓt̤arib : 'Agitated, perturbed, moved, disturbed, confounded, afflicted, distracted, anxious; tormented, chagrined'. (Platts p.1043)

*Platts Dictionary Online*

S. R. Faruqi:

This theme, Ghalib has used two times:

G{228,7},

and

G{29,1}.

With regard to the structure and arrangement of words, both of Ghalib's verses are beyond Mir's. But the honor of primacy goes in any case to Mir.

And indeed, in Mir's verse reg-e ravāñ is an image that has no equal in Ghalib's verses. By calling the sand 'shifting, moving' Mir has also provided a 'proof' for its agitation. Ghalib's metaphor is no doubt beyond Mir's, because a metaphor has no need of proof. By saying 'shifting sand' Mir has provided a proof, but the power of the metaphor has been diminished.

FWP:

SETS
MOTIFS
NAMES == MAJNUN
TERMS == 'ELEGANCE IN ASSIGNING A CAUSE'; PROOF

This verse is also an example of 'elegance in assigning a cause': what people think to be a natural phenomenon (quicksand, wind-blown dunes) has in fact a very different explanation.

SRF makes a thoughtful point when he says that Mir's explanatory 'proof' has reduced the power of the metaphor. It does seem that if Mir had contrived to use reg-e ravāñ in the course of saying something about Majnun's restlessness and the desert's responsiveness to it, the verse would have been stronger. The explicit logical structure ('X is not the case, Y is the case') seems prosaic and unnecessarily didactic. Ghalib's two verses retain an air of mystery by making us work to figure out the relationships for ourselves.