Ghazal 27, Verse 9x

{27,9x}

miraa shumuul har ik dil ke pech-o-taab me;N hai
mai;N mudda((aa huu;N tapish-naamah-e tamannaa kaa

1) my containment/inclusion is in the restlessness/vexation of every single heart
2) I am the claim/meaning/object of the agitation-letter of longing

Notes:

shumuul : 'Comprehending, containing, surrounding on all sides; inclusion, comprehension, comprisal; the whole, gross, aggregate'. (Platts p.733)

 

pech-o-taab : 'Twisting and twining; convolution, twisting knots, folds; contortions; restlessness, anxiety, agitation, perplexity, disquietude, distraction, distress; vexation, anger, indignation'. (Platts p.297)

 

mudda((aa : 'Asserted as a claim, claimed, sued for; alleged; pretended; meant; --what is claimed, or alleged, or pretended, or meant; desire, wish; suit; meaning, object, view; scope, tenor, drift'. (Platts p.1015)

 

tapish : 'Heat, warmth; distress (esp. that caused by heat); affliction; agitation; palpitation'. (Platts p.309)

 

naamah : 'A letter, writing, epistle; a record, written document; a work, treatise, book; history; a deed'. (Platts p.1118)

*Platts Dictionary Online*

Zamin:

tapish-naamah-e tamannaa = That writing in which would be entered the state of restlessness that would have arisen in the condition of the longing of the heart. That is, the restlessnesses and agitations that arise in hearts from the movement of longing-- I am the product of the book that can exist on the subject. Thus I am contained/comprised within the restlessness of every heart. The idea is that my restlessness equals the restlessness of the whole world.

== Zamin, p. 56

Gyan Chand:

If in this verse there had been tiraa shumuul and tuu mudda((aa hai , then the meaning would have become very clear. In the present situation, it is presumably that I am embodied passion. Passion is included in the writhing of every heart; thus I am a necessary part of the writhing of every man's heart. When someone expresses the restlessness of his longings in the form of a letter, then its essential, fundamental virtue/temper will be myself alone, because I alone am the perfect example of the restlessness of the longing of passion.

This verse can also be taken with regard to the Divine. If like 'I am the Truth/God' [as said by Mansur] there would be the feeling of 'I am the Beloved', then I alone will be in every heart and every letter of passion!

== Gyan Chand, p. 92

FWP:

SETS
GRANDIOSITY: {5,3}

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}.

Well, there are plenty of words, but hardly any wordplay, or vivid meaning-play either. Rather, there are unevocative, visually inactive abstractions piled on each other in big heaps.

The lover seems to have actually become the essence of passion, as Gyan Chand observes; he seems to have melted completely into the emotions and agitations and longing-expressions of the whole world. Well, okay, but where's the kicker? Why would anybody say vaah vaah! when they heard this one?

Compare a very much better 'grandiosity' verse, {62,8}, which has lively action, vivid imagery, and a self-mocking sense of humor. By comparison, what does the present verse have?

 

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