Ghazal 24, Verse 9x

{24,9x}

jahaa;N mi;T jaa))e sa((ii-e diid ;xi.zr-aabaad-e aasaa))ish
bah jeb-e har nigah pinhaa;N hai ;haa.sil rahnumaa))ii kaa

1) where the attempt/effort for vision/sight would be erased-- a Khizr-town of ease/repose!
2) in the neck-slit of every glance/gaze is hidden the substance/profit/result of guidance/'road-showing'

Notes:

sa((ii : 'Endeavour, attempt; exertion, effort; enterprise, essay; purpose'. (Platts p.661)

 

diid : 'Seeing, sight, vision; show, spectacle'. (Platts p.556)

 

aasaa))ish : 'Ease, rest, repose, quiet, tranquillity; convenience, comfort; indulgence, enjoyment'. (Platts p.47)

 

jaib : 'The opening at the neck and bosom (of a shirt, &c.); the breast-collar (of a garment); the heart; the bosom; (the Arabs often carry things within the bosom of the shirt, &c.; and hence the word is now applied by them to) 'a pocket' (in which sense the Turks, Persians, and Indians pronounce it jeb )'. (Platts p.412)

 

;haa.sil : 'Result, issue, ultimate consequence; ... acquiring, acquisition, advantage, profit, gain, good; sum, sum and substance, substance, purport, import, object'. (Platts p.473)

*Platts Dictionary Online*

Asi:

In the halting-place of passion, where the traveler would no longer have a yearning to see a Khizr-town of ease/repose, and where this longing would become extinguished-- in this place he arrives at a station/stage where in every one of his glances the outcome of guidance is concealed. That is, every glance becomes a guide.

== Asi, p. 61

Zamin:

He says that only the renunciation of effort and searching is called a 'Khizr-town of ease/repose', a place where after arrival rest and peace are the outcome-- and where for arrival one longs for the guidance of Khizr-- but to one who views with an outward eye it appears that the guidance of Khizr is not necessary. In his every glance is the outcome of the guidance of Khizr-- that is, the desired destination is hidden.

== Zamin, p. 48

Gyan Chand:

;xi.zr-aabaad = a place where a guide like Khizr lives. A person usually has a desire to see very far-off places, and in order to tour them it's necessary to have a guide. If one would renounce this desire and stay seated comfortably in one place, then there will be no further need for Khizr.

So to speak, the biggest Khizr-town is the renunciation of the effort for vision/sight and the desire for touring/sightseeing [sair]. In the neck-slit of every glance/gaze is hidden the essence of guidance, and it is this: that neither should travel be undertaken, nor should sightseeing be desired. There will no longer be any need for a guide, or for guidance.

== Gyan Chand, p. 87

FWP:

SETS
GAZE: {10,12}
INDEPENDENCE: {9,1}

For background see S. R. Faruqi's choices. This verse is NOT one of his choices; I thought it was interesting and have added it myself. For more on Ghalib's unpublished verses, see the discussion in {4,8x}.

Asi seems to read the first line with an i.zaafat after diid , so that it would mean 'where the effort for the show/spectacle of a Khizr-settlement of ease/repose would be erased'. This reading is possible, but not so persuasive (why would someone eager for sightseeing desire a 'Khizr-settlement' in particular?).

The key to contentment is thus apparently to cease from desiring fancy spectacles, or exotic shows, or the kind of elaborate, effortful sightseeing that would require the help of a guide like Khizr. The reward for this (stoic?) renunciation is a serene environment of ease and repose that is as valuable as anything that could be found by a whole townful of Khizrs.

In the ghazal world, jeb refers to the vertical slit of the neck-opening of a kurta; on this see {17,9}. According to Platts-- see the definition of jaib above-- the Arabs used to carry things 'within the bosom of the shirt', and this suggests the metaphorical use of the 'neck-slit' to mean the (also metaphorical) 'bosom' of the shirt, and thus the bosom, or heart, of the wearer.

Thus bah jeb-e har nigah would mean 'hidden deep within every glance/gaze'. There's a very similar use of something hidden in a neck-slit in {24,10x}. There are also remarkable structural similarities between the second line of the present verse and the second line of {24,10x}. In both cases we get bah jeb-e something pinhaa;N hai ;haasil something else kaa . For discussion, see {24,10x}.

Why does every glance have the 'substance' or 'profit' (or many other choices; see the definition of ;haa.sil above) of 'road-showing' hidden in its neck-slit? The glance is long and straight and directional like a road (and like a neck-slit, too). Thus wherever the glance is directed becomes a 'road', so that the glance contains within it all the 'substance' or 'profit' of 'road-showing'. This might be the case because all 'road-showing' fails (it is futile and foolish, so that any glance is as good as Khizr's guidance). Or else it might be because all road-showing succeeds (our glances around us teach us the virtues of staying where we are, or of being our own guide). Ghalib is fond of envisioning the gaze/glance as a road; for discussion and examples, see {10,12}.

This verse belongs to the set in which Ghalib valorizes independence above all else; for discussion and examples, see {9,1}.

 

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