FWP:
SETS == BASKIH;
OPPOSITES
DIFFICULT/EASY: {6,5}
OPPOSITES verses (a few notable examples): {1,2}; {3,3}; {8,2};
{17,1}; {22,4};
{25,9}; {26,1}*;
{29,3}; {41,4};
{46,3}; {51,8x}; {53,10};
{66,9}; {68,2};
{86,1}; {101,8};
{107,6}; {109,1};
{111,15}; {112,3};
{112,10}; {113,7};
{126,11}; {147,2};
{149,9x}; {154,1}; {176,3}*;
{183,5}*; {185,2};
{193,6x}; {196,7}; {232,1} // {241x,6}; {287x,7}** fundamental; {376x,4}*; {378x,9}
The verse turns on the pivot of baskih , which can also be short for az-bas kih (see the definitions above), and thus yields two distinct readings for the first line that stand in two different logical relationships to the second line. The 'to such an extent' reading: 'It's remarkably difficult for even seemingly easy tasks to be easy, and the proof is that man doesn't even manage to become human' (1a). The 'although' reading: 'Although it's difficult for every task to be easy, one would think that it would be easy for man to become human-- but, surprisingly, this is not the case' (1b).
Ghalib is fond of playing on the easy/difficult dichotomy. In this verse he also plays on the distinction between aadmii , a child of Adam who may (or may not) be good at heart, and insaan , a person in society who may be expected to behave according to a more humane and sophisticated standard. These two complex words, both derived from Arabic, are sometimes used almost as synonyms (as Platts shows them in the definitions above), but Ghalib emphasizes their differences; although the nuances may be hard to pin down, it's clear that to be insaan is a superior achievement.
Whose fault is it that an aadmii doesn't manage to become an insaan ? The excellently chosen verb muyassar honaa balances right on the edge (see the definition above), leaving it up to us to decide whether this status is not 'attainable' (in which case people can't be blamed if they don't achieve it), or whether it's not 'attained' (in which case the situation is left in doubt), or whether it's not 'easy' (in which case people can be blamed for not trying hard and achieving it).
Nowadays aadmii is often used to mean masculine in gender (a man as opposed to a woman), but in principle (see the definition above) and also in the usage of Ghalib and his contemporaries, women could quite readily and unselfconsciously be described as aadmii .
Compare Mir's juxtaposition of aadmii and insaan in M{502,3}.
Hali:
At first glance, this seems a commonplace idea; but if examined attentively, it is an entirely unprecedented thought. The claim is that in the world, even the easiest task is difficult. And the proof is that man, who by definition is human-- even for him to become human is difficult. This is not a logical proof; rather, it is a poetic proof, a proof better than which no poet can offer.
==Urdu text: Yadgar-e Ghalib, p. 120