===
1374,
7
===
 

{1374,7}

dil ko jo ;xuub dekhaa to huu kaa makaan hai
hai is makaa;N me;N saarii vuhii laa-makaa;N kii :tar;h

1) when I looked well at the heart, then-- it's the house of huu
2) in this house is all the style/manner of only/emphatically that Houseless One

 

Notes:

huu : 'He; —he is; —a name of the Deity:—huu ;haq honaa , v.n. To be destroyed: —huu kaa ((aalam , s.m. A desert plain, a howling wilderness (q.d. where no being but God exists)'. (Platts p.1239)

 

makaan : 'A place; station; situation; a habitation, dwelling, abode, house, home, room' (Platts p.1057)

 

:tar;h : 'Throwing; ejection; laying (a foundation); fixing (a position, &c.); foundation (of a building, &c.); position, establishment, location; plan, design; form, description, sort, kind; manner, mode'. (Platts p.752)

*Platts Dictionary Online*

S. R. Faruqi:

'Looked well'-- that is, looked attentively, attended to this reality. For huu kaa makaa;N there are two meanings: (1) it is entirely empty and desolate; (2) it is the house of the Lord. (In this context see

{1373,4}.)

And laa-makaa;N kii :tar;h too has two meanings: (1) like a houseless one; (2) that foundation that is like a houseless one-- that is, that house has been founded on the very same foundations on which the Houseless One is founded.

To call the heart huu kaa makaa;N , and then from there to turn the thought toward the Houseless One, is a superb example of fresh thought [taazah-;xayaalii]. In the human heart the thought of the Lord is apparent, therefore its breadth is unlimited-- this idea is commonplace. But to generate from it the idea that in the human heart is an emptiness like that of space itself-- it's an entirely eloquent [badii((] idea.

And since the Lord is beyond time and place, between huu kaa makaa;N and laa-makaa;N there is, in addition to the pleasure of the device of 'opposition', the meaningful aspect that the Lord's house is there where nothing is.

Through the wonder-making of the abundance and mental power of the heart's images and effects, Fani has generated a good theme:

ik ((aalam-e dil hai yihii dunyaa yihii firdaus
har shai na:zar aatii hai na:zar aatii hu))ii sii

[a single world/state of the heart is this world, this heaven
every thing is seen, as if 'being seen']

[See also {601,8}; {1252,4}.]

FWP:

SETS
MOTIFS == [BELOVED IS GOD]; HOME; ISLAMIC
NAMES
TERMS == OPPOSITION

SRF has done a beautiful explication, and it's a terrific verse too.

Fani's verse is also a real delight. That second line-- just a few very short and simple words, and even then relying heavily on repetition, but how evocative, how effective! Of course, it's up to us to give shape to the idea that things are seen self-consciously, self-createdly, viewed as spectacle on the screen of our minds 'as if being seen'-- but then, that's exactly the point the verse is making, so our awareness of our own willy-nilly mental creativity enhances the pleasure.

Note for translation fans: The translation of Fani's verse is also tricky. The most literal might be 'every substance comes into view [as] coming-into-view-ish'; or perhaps 'is visible, [as] visible-ish'. The basic problem is that we don't have anything in English quite like na:zar aanaa . I chose the 'being seen' because it echoes the Urdu present participle most closely. Then, what about the little sii ? It can safely be thought of as '-ish', but 'being-seen-ish' is really a stretch. 'As if' is only marginally acceptable; it really inserts too much distance between 'being seen' and the way every thing is seen.