1791_03

{1791,3}

dil kī tasallī jab kih nah hogī guft-o-shunūd se logoñ kī
āg phuñkegī ġham kī badan meñ us meñ jalye bhunyegā

1) when the comfort of the heart will not be through conversation with people,
2) it will blow on the fire of grief in the body, in it you will burn, will roast

S. R. Faruqi:

[SRF's text does not include the word nah .] This verse has been put in by way of padding, in order to complete the total of three verses for the intikhab. In the first line there's no occasion for the word kih ; it's possible that it was originally kam , and that erroneously the reading kih might have become established. If we adopt the reading of kam , then the meaning becomes somewhat better.

On the present reading, the meaning is that when you will be in such a state that you will begin to divert your heart by conversing with people, then it's as if this will be a sign of the lessening of the intensity of passion; and the grief of this lessening will blow on the flames. Obviously the two lines are not well joined together.

FWP:

SETS
MOTIFS
NAMES
TERMS == CONNECTION

[I too used the SSA text for this discussion.] The lack of 'connection' is indeed a problem, and the whole verse in general feels inert and limp.

What is it that will blow on the fire of grief in the heart? It could be either the tasallī itself, or the guft-o-shunūd that brings it about. But in the present verse it doesn't seem to make much difference.

We could quite well take this verse to be part of the small informal verse-set discussed in {1791,1}; if we do, then it could also be that the guft-o-shunūd includes recitation or evocation of Mir's poetry, so that fresh grief is aroused as people contemplate the loss of his poetry.

The possibility that the informal verse-set continues throughout the ghazal is increased by the closing verse, {1791,4}:

garm ashʿār-e mīr darūnah dāġhoñ se yih bhar deñge
zard-rū shahr meñ phiryegā galyoñ meñ ne gul chunyegā

[the 'hot' verses of Mir-- these will fill you like inner wounds
pale-faced, you will neither wander in the city, nor 'gather flowers' in the streets]

Note for meter fans: It's also extremely unusual to have to scan kih as a long syllable. (Don't try this at home!) But in the present verse there doesn't seem to be any way to avoid it. Possibly this aberrant scansion might add weight to SRF's speculation about kam .

{1791,3}

Notes:

S. R. Faruqi:

FWP: