FWP:
SETS == EK;
PEN-NAME; PHIR
DROP/OCEAN: {21,8}
EK verses: {4,8x}***; {6,6}*;
{10,1}; {10,4};
{10,6}; {10,9};
{14,5}**; {15,14}; {16,10x};
{18,5}; {24,6};
{25,5}; {25,7};
{26,2}; {29,1};
{36,5}; {40,3x}*;
{42,4}; {43,3};
{49,10}; {54,2};
{61,7}; {62,8}*;
{68,5}; {72,4};
{78,1}; {78,5};
{78,6}**, vs. yak ; {85,4}; {86,7};
{87,7}; {87,8};
{88,1}; {91,1};
{92,1}; {97,9};
{97,10}; {98,8};
{108,2}; {119,6}; {123,11};
{124,4}; {127,2};
{131,5}; {132,1};
{132,2}; [{132,3}, controlled case]; {135,1};
{138,1}; {150,2x}**; {157,4};
{158,1}; {159,6};
{160,6}; {164,11}; {169,12}; {173,6};
{173,9}; {174,6}*;
{175,5}; {176,6};
{185,3}; {185,4x}; {186,2};
{186,4}*; {190,10};
{197,2}; {208,2}*;
{208,12}; {221,4x}, yak ; {229,4}; {231,2};
{231,5}; {234,4}, as 'whole' // {248x,4}; {266x,2}; {282x,5}; {307x,1}; {335x,3}; {413x,9}
The word shor as a noun means tumult or clamor; as an adjective, salty or brackish (see the definition above, and also {4,7}), so that the wordplay is enjoyable. With the salt water of a single tear, and the wind of a single sigh [aah], the lover can't help but generate a typhoon. That aah at the beginning of the second line is perfectly positioned-- it not only is the word for a sigh, but also itself is the breathy sound of a sigh; and with colloquial perfection, the aah introduces an entirely sigh-worthy-- and wind-filled-- predicament.
This theme of the (deadly) power of something compressed and unexpressed is a very Ghalibian one. It's the one drop that didn't emerge (in the form of tears), not the many more that did emerge, which is destined to become the seed of future tempests. For a related example, see {44,2}, in which the lover warns the beloved of the consequences if he is not permitted to express his laments.
But of course, that drop could be an undescribed one (since ek can be read merely as 'a, an'); or it could be a 'single, sole' one; or it could be a 'certain' one (of some particular kind); or it could be a 'unique, singular' one (like no other); or it could be a 'preeminent, excellent' one. How we read the ek -- of which ik is of course a metrically shortened version-- will play a large part in our interpretation of the whole verse. Similarly, phir could mean either 'again', or merely 'then'. As so often, Ghalib leaves us to decide the question for ourselves.
Also connected to the verse is the theme of the drop and the ocean as microcosm and macrocosm. For examples and discussion, see {21,8}.
Mir, by contrast, makes his own typhoon not from a
teardrop, but from a single drop of blood: M{108,10}.
Nazm:
That is, the weeping over which my self-control proved a conqueror [;Gaalib], I took to be even less than a drop. Now it has become a typhoon and become a conqueror [;Gaalib] over me. (7)
== Nazm page 7