S. R. Faruqi:

See

{185,4},

in which this theme has been even more excellently expressed. Based on the present verse and {185,4}, Mirza Jan Tapish has a verse:

chhīltā hai kabhī zaḳhmoñ ko kabhī dāġhoñ ko
tere nā-kām ko rahne lage ab kām bahut

[sometimes he peels wounds, sometimes scars
for your useless/'work-less' one, there's now begun to be much work]

Mir's accomplishment is that in the present verse he used the word mashġhale . In the word kām there's usually the suggestion of some purposeful activity or occupation. The word mashġhalah seems more appropriate when there wouldn't be any special purpose in the activity, but it would be a kind of idle or unmotivated pursuit.

An excellent verse of Ahmad Mushtaq's is:

ab shaġhl hai yihī dil-e īżā-pasand kā
jo zaḳhm bhar gayā hai nishāñ us kā dekhnā

[now only/emphatically this is the occupation/pastime of the trouble-loving heart
the wound that has healed-- to look at its scar]

Another point is that although in {185,4} too there's absolutely no self-pity-- or rather, there's a kind of sarcasm toward himself-- in the present verse (and in Tapish's verse too), the kind of activities that are mentioned are the bearers of an intense, greater-than-necessary dramatic tension. That is, they are [in English] 'over-dramatized'. In the present verse, the words he has selected to express the occupations/pastimes in separation are absolutely conventional. In this way, between them and the mashġhalah he has created a fine affinity.

[See also {80,7}.]

FWP:

SETS
MOTIFS
NAMES
TERMS == DRAMATICNESS

Note for meter fans: Even though bahut is definitely short-long, bahutere has to be scanned as long-long-short instead of short-short-long-short. But this scansion does reflect its colloquial pronunciation.