1658_04

{1658,4}

dāʾir sāʾir hai yih jahāñ meñ jahāñ tahāñ mutaṣarrif hai
ʿishq kahīñ hai dil meñ pinhāñ aur kahīñ paidā hai ʿishq

1) this is circling/moving, going/contingent, in the world, wherever the possessing/possessor is,
2) somewhere passion is hidden in the heart; and somewhere [else] it is manifest, passion

Notes:

dāʾir : 'Going round, encircling; in process, agitated (as a law-suit); capable of being agitated; cognizable'. (Platts p.505)

sāʾir : 'Going, walking, wandering; current; contingent'. (Platts p.631)

mutaṣarrif : 'Possessing, occupying; having the sway (of); ... —profuse, extravagant; —dexterous; ... —possessor, occupant; enjoyer; master; a taker'. (Platts p.993)

paidā : 'Born, created, generated, produced; invented, discovered, manifested, manifest, exhibited'. (Platts p.298)

*Platts Dictionary Online*

S. R. Faruqi:

[SRF discusses both this ghazal and the following, formally identical one, {1659}, together in {1658,1}.]

In this verse can be seen a commentary on the previous verse,

{1658,3}.

Passion's 'being hidden in the heart' can also mean that even if the effects of passion would not be manifest, nevertheless it is in everyone's heart. This same theme he has also expressed again in

{1659,2}.

FWP:

SETS == MIDPOINTS; REPETITION
MOTIFS == SOUND EFFECTS
NAMES
TERMS

When the long, loopy, swingy effects of Mir's 'Hindi meter' are combined with so much repetition and echoing, the sound effects become almost entrancing in themselves. In the first line we have dāʾir sāʾir , then the virtuosically confusing placement of jahāñ meñ jahāñ tahāñ , which tries to beguile us into initially misreading the second jahāñ as another 'world' rather than the relative pronoun. Finally, in the second line we have two occurrences each of ʿishq (which both begins and ends the line) and kahīñ , which links the two possible states (of being either hidden or manifest).

The 'midpoint' phrase jahāñ tahāñ mutaṣarrif hai can be read either backward, with the first part of the first line, or forward, with the second line. But in this verse it hardly seems to make much difference.

Note for meter fans: The sequence ja-haa;N ta-haa;N is scanned - = - = instead of the normal = - - = . This syncopation is unusual, but not all that rare either.