kam kisuu ko miir kii mayyat kii haath aa))ii namaaz
na((sh par us be-sar-o-paa kii balaa ka;srat hu))ii
1) to very few people did [a chance to share in] the funeral prayer for Mir come to hand
2) at the bier of that helpless/'headless-and-footless' one, there was a devastating crowd
For there to be a number of people around the corpse of a be-sar-o-paa person has an extraordinary 'ironic tension'. This theme too is entirely new-- that at the funeral procession of 'Mir' (= the lover) there was such a crowd that many people were not able to perform the namaaz-e janaazaa . Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal always used to say, 'Between us and you are funeral processions'. The Imam's point was that there would be arrangements for a crowd at his funeral procession. The person at whose funeral procession there's the biggest crowd, would presumably have the highest rank. It's possible that Mir too might have had in mind this saying of Imam Ahmad's.
Then, be-sar-o-paa is used, by implication, for a lover ([according to the dictionary] nuur ul-lu;Gaat ). But it has several meanings: (1) without resources/equipment; (2) anxious and troubled; (3) wandering/wanderer; (4) unstable, neglected. The final meaning has no relevance here. But all the others are appropriate to the present verse.
Mir composed this theme in the first divan as well, and two times in Persian. From the first divan [{401,11}]:
ziyaadah ;had se thii taabuut-e miir par ka;srat
hu))aa nah vaqt-e musaa((id namaaz karne ko
[there were crowds beyond all limit at Mir's bier
there did not occur a favorable time for doing the namaz]
In Persian, one verse:
'There was such a crowd at Mir's bier
That many were not able to offer the funeral namaz.'
In Persian, another verse:
'Mir was slain, and alas, that because of the crowd of people
I didn't at all have a chance to offer the funeral namaz!'
The Persian verses are, as usual, limp [sust]. The Urdu verse is good, but in the present verse the theme is stronger.
