S. R. Faruqi:

In the first line there's a bit of 'entanglement' [ta((qiid]-- saadah in fact modifies 'letter'. That is, even if someone should send her, instead of a letter, a blank piece of paper, there's no reason to be dispirited. That is, if the abundance of ardor couldn't be expressed, and the heart would be comforted by sending only a blank piece of paper, then there's no need to be melancholy. Up to this point, the meaning emerges that there's no limit to the recounting of ardor-- thus if he has not written a letter, but has only sent a blank piece of paper, then it's no harm.

If we consider further, then in the first line we perceive two more meanings as well. In the light of the first of these, saadah will be construed as a quality not of the letter, but of the letter-writer. This first meaning thus becomes that someone who has written her a letter and is not dispirited-- that person can only be 'simple' (foolish). In order to establish the second meaning, assume the line to contain a negative rhetorical question. Now the prose will be like this: 'Having written her a simple letter, would anyone not be dispirited?!' (That is, it's impossible that he would not be dispirited-- he will be dispirited, and certainly will be so!)

In order to legitimate all three meanings, in the second line an absolutely new idea comes before us: that with regard to the Messenger there is always the suspicion that he might open the letter and read it. Thus instead of a letter, it's better to send a blank piece of paper. Even if the Messenger would have the rank/status of a prophet, I will still remain suspicious of him-- that he might read my letter!

The word rasuul has the meaning of a message-bearer [payaam-bar], and especially one who would bring some oral message. Thus in qaa.sid rasuul ho there's an excellent ambiguity. Even if I sent a blank piece of paper, I would still suspect the Messenger of extracting some kind of meaning from it. Or in any case the regret would remain that if I didn't suspect the Messenger of opening and reading the letter, then instead of a blank piece of paper I would have written down and sent the state of my heart. Thus in both cases, dejection will remain, because in any case the suspicion would remain that the Messenger would read the letter.

The 'connection' of a zila between ;xa:t meaning down on the cheek, and saadah meaning 'one on whose cheek down has not yet grown', is extremely fine. The affinity between qaa.sid and rasuul is obvious. He's composed a devastating opening-verse.

FWP:

SETS == A,B; GENERATORS; MIDPOINTS
MOTIFS == WRITING
NAMES == MESSENGER
TERMS == ENTANGLEMENT

The first line is about an unknown 'someone' who who writes a (possibly blank) letter to the beloved and may perhaps be 'guileless, simple' and/or 'dispirited, dejected'. Since saadah is a 'midpoint' adjective, it could modify either the letter ('blank', or else 'clear, candid'; see the definition above), or else the letter-writer ('guileless, sincere'). The future subjunctive verb ho can be read as 'would, might, should'; it can thus express wishes, hopes, fears, or neutral possibilities; so here too there are many permutations possible. As SRF notes, each reading could be taken as either a statement or a question, which further multiplies the permutations.

The second line of this 'A,B' verse is about how 'we' (the speaker himself, or lovers in general) behave. On one reading, the speaker is so paranoid that he would be suspicious of the Messenger even if he were a divine emissary-- a prophet, or even 'the' Prophet. On another reading, he would be suspicious of the Messenger if the Messenger had been given, in addition to a written letter, an oral message as well-- since rasuul can, as SRF notes, imply the bearing of an oral message.

By now, we readers are surrounded by a cloud of possible permutations. I won't seek to ring the changes, but will simply illustrate a few of the main possibilities. For the first reading of the first line (1a), one paraphrase can be: 'One might well be sorry about sending her even a blank letter-- such prudence or paranoia is almost inevitable, for we lovers are always suspicious of the Messenger'. For the second reading (1b), a similar paraphrase can be: 'A simple, sincere person might well be sorry about sending her a letter-- for we lovers are always irrationally suspicious of the Messenger'. For the third reading (1c), a paraphrase can be: 'How could anybody who sends her a candid, open letter not be unhappy afterwards? We lovers are always suspicious of the Messenger!'

Are the lovers' suspicions perhaps well-grounded (because the Messenger is gossipy or unreliable, or has been bribed by some Rival, or is likely himself to fall in love with the beloved), or are their suspicions irrational and paranoid (because they are born of the mad lovers' wild, disproportionate emotions)? As so often, it's left up to us to decide.