FWP:
SETS == GENERATORS; INEXPRESSIBILITY; IZAFAT
INEXPRESSIBILITY: {1,2}; {5,4}; {9,8x}; {10,2}; {15,11}**, with a list of kyaa kahuu;N verses; {16,4}; {16,8x}; {17,5}; {18,4}; {20,8}; {29,5x}; {34,3}; {39,4}; {49,2}; {56,2}; {58,9}; {68,5}; {75,6}; {81,13x}; {86,8}; {87,4}; {88,3}; {91,2}; {92,5}; {92,8x}; {97,2}; {108,6}; {113,4}; {129}*, nah puuchh ; {133,5x}; {136,7}; {147,6x}; {167,4}; {172,3}; {183,2}; {194,6}; {196,8x}*; {197,1}; {199,6x}; {201}; {208,5}; {210,5}; {224,2x}; {227,3} // {261x,6}; {350x}, nah puuchh ; {383x,5}; {398x,4}, nah puuchh
ABOUT kyaa kahuu;N : That irresistibly idiomatic phrase kyaa kahuu;N is a form of the 'inexpressibility trope' of which Ghalib makes excellent use. What more convenient way could there be to both suggest and avoid description, in a poem fifteen or twenty words long? It's expressive, like 'What can I say?!' I've translated it accordingly (though literally of course it's 'What might I say?'). Other examples: {39,4}; {88,3}; {92,8x}; {97,2}; {136,7}; {194,6}. Ghalib seems not to use kyaa kahe;N .
Structurally speaking, the verse is a tribute to the powers of the i.zaafat construction. To take one crucial example, what is an endowment 'of' a bedding [vaqf-e bistar]? Is it an endowment bestowed by a bedding? An endowment bestowed on a bedding? An endowment that consists of a bedding? An endowment that resembles, or is somehow otherwise related to, a bedding? In a verse so full of abstractions forcibly yoked together, we're not able to be at all sure. And of course, 'endowment' is far from the only meaning of vaqf (see the definition above), as can be seen from the several translations given above. 'Endowment' may be the primary sense that occurs to us today, but was it necessarily so for Ghalib?
Ashes and ermine-- how different are they, really? Both soft, both a mottled greyish-whitish, both capable in some sense of being slept on. By careful and subtle word choices, Ghalib has made possible a variety of readings of the second line. Three of them are shown above; they all can be appropriately associated with the pride-in-humility described in the first line:
=(2a) is at least initially physical, with a body lying in bedding. The body of Thought, apparently, which is in fact lying in ermine even while (or precisely because?) the physical body lies in ashes.
=(2b) is ambitious: while sitting in ashes, proud Thought is focused upon (and scheming about) riches to come.
=(2c) is religious: Thought has been endowed by religious bequest with the ability to see ashes as ermine, and ermine in ashes.
In a few words the verse is thus able to set up a picture which might be that of ostentatious religious hypocrisy, coquettishly pluming itself on its austerities; or that of ambition, busily scheming about how to move from present rags to future riches; or that of a genuine religious sensibility, which finds luxury in simplicity. Or, of course-- especially if we think of the 'days' as those of youth-- something of all three together. And how excellently the possibilities of the (Persianized) naazish (see the definition above) resonate with these various alternatives!
Another verse that also somewhat oddly combines a vaqf and bedding: {194,1} (which also discusses the nature of bistar ). Another abstract vaqf verse: {200,4x}. Another, less powerful invocation of ;xaakistar-nishiinii : {73,4x}.
Consider also the piquant but maddening {18,7x}.
And then compare Mir's own nostalgic (?) vision of the good old days: M{115,1}.
Nazm:
That is, although I was sitting in the dust, because of my heart's pride at its own contentment, it was rolling around on a bedding of ermine. (16)
== Nazm page 16