===
1176,
7
===

 

{1176,7}

ek dam se qais ke jangal bharā rahtā thā kyā
ab gaʾe par us ke vaisī raunaq-e hāmūñ kahāñ

1) through a single/particular/unique/excellent breath of Qais, how the jungle/wilderness used to remain full/replete!
2) now, upon his going, where/how [is] such liveliness/radiance of the desert/plain?

 

Notes:

hāmūñ : 'Level ground; a plain; —a desert'. (Platts p.1216)

 

raunaq : 'Lustre, water (of a sword, &c.); brightness, splendour, beauty, elegance, grace, ornament; freshness, prime; colour, complexion; flourishing state or condition'. (Platts p.608)

S. R. Faruqi:

On this theme, Rajah Ram Nara'in Mauzun has a universally famous verse:

ġhazālāñ tum to vāqif ho kaho majnūñ ke marne kī
divānā mar gayā āḳhir to vīrāne pah kyā gużrī

[gazelles, you are acquainted with it-- tell about the death of Majnun
when the madman died, finally, then what happened to the wilderness?]

In the verse, both the mood and the theme have reached a lofty level. If Mir's and Ghalib's verses are not kept in mind, then one would wonder what the poet had left unsaid for anyone else to compose. Ghalib:

G{140,6}.

It was Ghalib alone who, in the presence of Ram Nara'in Mauzun's and Mir's verses, would be able to compose such a verse.

In Mir's own verse, there are a number of causes of eloquence [balāġhat].

(1) He hasn't made it clear that Majnun has died. In ab gaʾe par us ke there are both possibilities: that Majnun has gone away somewhere, or has died.

(2) The jungle itself is an extremely thick, dense, filled-up place. Trees, bushes, animals, birds. But Majnun's sighs and laments (or perhaps his silence and heart-piercing quiet) conveyed such a mood that it seemed that the jungle was full.

(3) Or perhaps the thing was that Majnun didn't halt anywhere for even a moment. If now he's here, then the next moment he's there. Thus for this reason the jungle seemed full.

(4) We might say that Majnun had filled up the whole jungle.

(5) And then, raunaq means 'hustle and bustle', and also 'adornment'.

(6) In vaisī there's the implication that the raunaq exists even now-- but it's not the same thing.

FWP:

SETS == EK
MOTIFS
NAMES == QAIS
TERMS

Really, in this case Ghalib's verse reigns supreme. There's just no two ways about it. Ghalib's verse doesn't just pose the situation-- it makes it haunting and unforgettable. Mir's verse feels verbose and awkward by comparison.

 

 
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