0949_13

{949,13}

ab gaʾe us ke juz afsos nahīñ kuchh ḥāṣil
ḥaif ṣad ḥaif kih kuchh qadr nah jānī us kī

1) now he has gone; apart from sorrow/regret, he obtained nothing
2) alas, a hundred times alas-- that 'they' didn't at all know his worth!

Notes:

afsos : 'Sorrow, grief, concern; regret; vexation'. (Platts p.62)

qadr : 'Greatness, dignity, honour, rank, power; importance, consequence; worth, merit; estimation, appreciation, account; value'. (Platts p.788)

*Platts Dictionary Online*

S. R. Faruqi:

[For SRF's discussion of this ghazal as a whole, see {949,1}.]

FWP:

SETS
MOTIFS
NAMES
TERMS

For discussion of this ghazal as a whole, see {949,1}.

From the grammar of the second line, we can't tell who it was who didn't know the lover's worth; but our English 'they'-- as in 'they say it will rain tomorrow'-- is a good way to capture something of the universality. Or 'people'. Or 'we'. Or maybe 'she'?

This is the only verse in the whole ghazal that explicitly, unambiguously, describes 'him' as dead (or rather as 'gone', which in context strongly implies 'gone from this world'). Most of the other verses either envision 'him' as alive, or keep his status ambiguous.