Ghazal 5, Verse 2

{5,2}*

dil me;N ;zauq-e va.sl-o-yaad-e yaar tak baaqii nahii;N
aag is ghar me;N lagii aisii kih jo thaa jal gayaa

1) in the heart not even taste/relish for union and memory of the beloved/friend remain
2) fire took hold in this house in such a way that what was [here], burned up

Notes:

jalnaa : 'To burn; to be burnt; to be on fire; to be kindled, be lighted; to be scorched, be singed; to be inflamed, to be consumed; to be touched, moved, or affected (with pity, &c.); to feel pain, sorrow, anguish, &c.; to burn or be consumed with love, or jealousy, or envy, &c.; to take amiss, be offended, be indignant; to get into a passion, be enraged, to rage'. (Platts p.387)

 

jal jaanaa : '(intens.) To be burnt up, be consumed (with, - se )'. (Platts p.387)

*Platts Dictionary Online*

Nazm:

That is, the fire of jealousy/envy was such that it caused the heart to forget the beloved, and having seen her meeting with the Other, the taste for union waned. By house he means heart; and by fire, envy of the Rival. (5)

== Nazm page 5

Vajid:

Urdu text: Vajid 1902 {5}

Bekhud Dihlavi:

The rule [qaa))idah] is that when hopelessness passes beyond a limit, then hope/expectation always vanishes, of its own volition. As if the onslaught of despair made me lose heart to such an extent that now no longing for your coming remains-- neither hope, nor desire is left. (14)

Baqir:

[Quoting the commentator Suha:] It points toward that stage of passion, when hope and despair, union and separation, memory of the beloved-- in short, the feeling of every emotion-- no longer remains; and that's the stage of astonishment and forgetfulness of the world. (17)

Faruqi:

[See his discussion in Mir's M{66,1}.]

FWP:

SETS == MUSHAIRAH

'UNION' verses: {5,2}; {15,9}; {20,1}; {68,3}; {85,1}; {88,5x}; {97,7}; {116,9}; {125,2}; {129,4x}; {132,7}; {142,3x}, dubious; {143,8x}*; {145,14x}; {148,10}; {169,2}; {172,2}; {187,5x}; {188,1}; {206,5x}; {208,11} // {257x,5}; {261x,3}; {281x,3}; {299x,5}; {307x,3}; {349x,7}; {356x,1}; {370x,7}; {386x,4}; {387x,2}; {404x,1}

This verse belongs to a group that I am going to call 'mushairah' verses, for their ideal suitability to the kind of oral performance style characteristic of mushairahs. The first line is shocking: how can such an inconceivable state of affairs exist in the heart of any lover with even the smallest self-respect? We wait impatiently for an explanation. Of course, we are made to wait as long as conveniently possible, during many obligatory expressions of admiration and appreciation, and maybe a repetition, before we're allowed to hear the second line. For more on 'mushairah' verses, see {14,9}.

Then even when we hear the second line, until we reach the final 'punch'-word (since ghazal verses are too short to have punch-lines), thaa , which is also the rhyme-word and thus the last available element of the line, we still can't really be sure what's going on. Then all at once we get it: everything that was there, burned up. While it's a tribute to the depth of the lover's passion that the longing for union and the memory of the beloved should be buried irremovably deep in his heart, it's equally a tribute to the fieriness of his passion that his heart should be so fiercely flame-destroyed that even those deepest things would be reduced to ashes.

In short, it's a case of 'the irresistible force meets the immovable object'. The longing for union, and the memory of the beloved, are the deepest things in the heart-- how can they possibly burn away? Yet the fire of passion is so unassuageably ferocious-- how can it not destroy absolutely everything in its path? And how witty of the poet to have pitted them against each other so cleverly! A mushairah-verse like this gives up all its pleasure at once, in a single burst, and then the listener is ready to move on to the next verse.

 

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