===
1590,
7
===

 

{1590,7}

mat chūko is jins-e girāñ ko dil kī vahīñ le jāʾo tum
hindustān meñ hindū bachoñ kī bahut baṛī sarkār hai āj

1) don't overlook this valuable property of the heart! take it to only/emphatically there
2) in Hindustan, a lot of authority/estate belongs to Hindu boys, today

 

Notes:

sarkār : 'Court (of a king); government, ruling authority; —dignity, state, pomp; —estate, property'. (Platts p.655)

S. R. Faruqi:

'Hindu' certainly means 'Hindu'-- that is, 'a resident of Hindustan' and 'a believer in the Hindu religion'. It also means 'thief' and 'beloved'. The theme of the verse is certainly witty/humorous, because of the aspect that 'Hindu' means 'thief', so that to invite the taking of a valuable property like the heart to the dominion or the court of 'Hindu boys' becomes more witty/humorous.

The meaning of 'Hindu' as 'thief' and 'beloved' is an interesting case of the acquisition of meaning, and a good example of the colorfulness of the Persian language. The beloved is called an 'idol'; Hindus are idol-worshipers; the beloved steals away the heart or commits highway robbery on the mind and the senses. Thus the down on the cheek, the black beauty-spot, and the curls began to be called 'Hindu'.

Then, probably by way of a back-transmission of reflected imagery, that person began to be called 'Hindu' who was adorned with down on the cheeks, beauty-spot, curls, etc. Along with the Hindu's tawny complexion, when the idea of 'black' [kālā], meaning 'thief', appeared, then 'Hindu' meaning 'thief' became established. In short, it's a maze of reciprocities.

There's a famous verse of Zauq's on this, and it's possible that it might have been borrowed from Mir:

ḳhat̤ baṛhā sabzah baṛhā kākul baṛhe gesū bhaṛe
ḥusn kī sarkār meñ jitne baṛhe hindū baṛhe

[the down on the cheeks advanced, the tawniness advanced, the tresses advanced, the curls advanced
in the dominion of beauty however many advanced, the Hindus advanced]

FWP:

SETS == HUMOR
MOTIFS == [BELOVED IS A BOY]
NAMES == HINDU; HINDUSTAN
TERMS == METER

This ghazal is the second of a set of two about which SRF makes special claims for an over-all 'musical' effect; see {1589,1} for his discussion.

Note for meter fans: In the second line, note the irregular foot of ba-hut ba ( - = - ) instead of the normal ( = - - ). This pattern is uncommon but permissible.

 

 
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