1450_06

S. R. Faruqi:

sanjīdah = measured, harmonious

To use the cypress as a simile for the beloved's stature is a common theme. In Turkish, it has been used to such an extent that in Turkish 'moving cypress' [sarv-e ravāñ] has come to mean 'beloved', the way with us one meaning of 'heart-stealer' [dil-rubā] is 'beloved'. The theme of the 'cypress-stature' has been used with various new meanings by Sa'di and Khusrau and Hafiz.

Shibli has complained that in the earliest period of poetry the poets used to compose simple and easy things, but later people preferred artificiality and convolutedness, so that poetry became full of 'imaginary themes'. The first error in this complaint is that since themes are based on metaphors, and with us metaphors are used on the level of reality, for our poetics the distinction between 'imaginary' and 'realistic' is meaningless. A metaphor is in any case an activity of the imagination, and in this regard all metaphors are to one or another extent 'imaginary'.

Shibli's second error is that he has ignored the principle of 'theme-creation'. The basic act of 'theme-creation' is, after all, that a new theme should be created, or that a new direction should be drawn out of an old theme, or that an old theme should be presented in a new way. Thus it's obvious that as a rule, compared to earlier poets, later poets will make more attempts at 'theme-creation'.

The new things about the theme of the cypress and the beloved's stature that the early Persian poets have said, we can mostly classify as a special kind of metaphor called [the English word] 'substitution' [tabdīlī]-- that is, in place of something, to put something else. The poets of early Hindi based their themes on [the English word] 'contiguity' [taqrīb]. By contiguity is meant to make the qualities of something the foundation of a theme. Roman Jakobson has written that the creation of 'substitution' is the characteristic of metaphor, and metaphor is the characteristic of poetry. By contrast, the creation of 'contiguity' is the charactistic of [the English word] 'metonymy' [kināyah], and metonymy is the characteristic not of poetry but of fiction. If Jakobson had been acquainted with Indo-Persian poetics, then he would have known that for us 'metonymy'-- that is, the forms of suggestion-- has been made the foundation of the theme (=metaphor).

As an example, let's take the cypress and the stature. Since the cypress is simple, light, and evergreen, it has been used as a simile for the beloved's stature. Now from here the creation of 'contiguity' begins. The tree ( t̤ūbâ ) that is found in Paradise is like a cypress. Thus the stature = the Tuba tree = the cypress. Now they also call the stature 'harmonious' [mauzūñ]. Thus the stature = harmonious = a line of poetry; and the stature = the cypress = a line. The act of assessing the harmoniousness is to do metrical scansion [taqt̤īʿ karnā]. One meaning of taqt̤īʿ is 'adornment', and another meaning is 'trimming, pruning'. Thus stature = cypress = taqt̤īʿ = harmonious.

Now we'll look at a [Persian] verse by Muhsin Tasir:

'Although not one cypress has the charm of her stature,
Since the cypress does taqt̤īʿ , it becomes a harmonious line.'

The Urdu poets might saw the possibilities of Muhsin Tasir's theme. Thus now let's look at some examples in Urdu. Vali:

hai pasand-e t̤abʿa-e ʿālī miṣraʿ-e sarv-e buland
jab se gulshan meñ tirā qad dekh kar mauzūñ huʾā

[it is pleasing to a lofty temperament, the line of the tall cypress
ever since, in the garden, having seen your stature, it became harmonious]

Shakir Naji:

mauzūñ qad us kā chashm ke mīzāñ meñ jab tulā
t̤ūbâ tab us se ek qadam adh kasā huʾā

[when her harmonious stature was weighed in the balance-scale of the eyes
then the Tuba-tree was one footstep less trim than that]

Nasikh:

ġhaẓab hai sarv bāñdhā us parī ke qadd-e gul-gūñ ko
yih kis shāʿir ne nā-mauzūñ kiyā miṣrāʿ-e mauzūñ ko

[it's a disaster-- he versified the rose-colored stature of that Pari as a cypress!
which poet made this harmonious/metrical line, inharmonious/unmetrical?]

Atish:

pahuñchtā use miṣraʿ-e tāzah-o-tar
qad-e yār-sā sarv mauzūñ nah niklā

[a fresh and dewy line would have arrived for it--
the cypress turned out not as harmonious as the stature of the beloved]

Mir's own present verse is a radiant link in this same chain of 'theme-creation'. In this connection, there has already been a detailed discussion about a verse from the third divan:

{1176,5}.

The poets whom I have cited above, from Vali to Atish, are superior examples, each in his turn, of 'theme-creation'. To analyze their verses at this point would unduly prolong the discussion; thus I consider only Mir's present verse:

(1) The word sanjīdah means 'weighed, metrically scanned'. This is also the meaning of mauzūñ . Thus sanjīdah means mauzūñ . But we also use sanjīdah to mean 'serious, grave, worthy of respect'. And this meaning too is appropriate here. Because the cypress remains established in its place, and is an important part of the garden. Therefore it has sanjīdagī .

(2) If the second line is present beforehand, and the first line is attached [miṣraʿ lagānā] to it, then it's called a pesh miṣraʿ . Thus in pesh-e miṣraʿ-e qadd-e yār , the phrase pesh miṣraʿ has an additional meaningfulness.

(3) In order to ascertain the mauzūniyat of a verse, in addition to scansion there's also the technique of bringing into play one's 'inner listener' and, so to speak, weighing a line in the heart and deciding whether it's mauzūñ or not, or it's out of meter or not. Thus dil meñ tolnā is extremely appropriate here.

(4) Between sanjīdah and toleñ haiñ there's the connection of a zila.

(5) The cypress too is mauzūñ , but the beloved is more mauzūñ than it is. Thus the mauzūniyat of each line is noted separately. One is more mauzūñ , and one is less so.

(6) Then, nā-mauzūñ also means 'inappropriate, unsuitable'. Thus one meaning is that although the cypress is sanjīdah , for becoming the pesh miṣraʿ of the stature of the beloved it's inappropriate/unsuitable. (Consider the verse by Atish that has been cited above.)

(7) Mir has written this theme as follows, in the sixth divan [{1830,4}]:

us kī qāmat-e mauzūñ se kyā sarv barābar hovegā
nā-mauzūñ hī niklegā sanjīdah koʾī jo bole ṭuk

[her harmonious stature-- how would the cypress be equal to it!
it will turn out to be non-harmonious, if anyone would even call it measured]

This verse lacks the depths of meaning and theme that are found in the present verse. The second line is not entirely effective. The present verse is trim and properly constructed in every way, and has the rank of a masterpiece.

{1450,6}

Notes:

S. R. Faruqi:

FWP: