Ghazal 27, Verse 10x

{27,10x}

milii nah vus((at-e jaulaan-e yak-junuu;N ham ko
((adam ko le ga))e dil me;N ;Gubaar .sa;hraa kaa

1) we did not obtain the scope of moving-about of a complete-madness
2) to nonexistence, we took away in our heart {rancor toward /'dust' of} the desert

Notes:

vus((at : 'Latitude; amplitude; spaciousness; capacity; space, extent; space covered, area; dimensions; bulk;—convenience, ease; opportunity, leisure'. (Platts p.1192)

 

jaulaan : 'Wandering up and down, wandering about; moving or springing from side to side (as combatants or competitors in an amphitheatre or place of exercise); moving round (as a horse in a manege), coursing'. (Platts p.398)

 

;Gubaar : 'Dust; clouds of dust; a dust-storm; vapour, fog, mist, mistiness; impurity, foulness; (met.) vexation, soreness, ill-feeling, rancour, spite; affliction, grief; perplexity'. (Platts p.769)

*Platts Dictionary Online*

Zamin:

jaulaan-e yak-junuu;N is a measure of breadth/extent. That is, the desert was not even broad enough so that in the very first round of madness I would be able to keep running straight ahead to my heart's content without turning back and making a circle. For there to be 'dust in the heart' means to have ill-will toward someone.

The meaning is that 'In the desert we didn't find even enough breadth to take a single run; thus while we were dying, dust remained in our heart toward the desert'. For dust to remain in the heart toward the desert is an extremely clean/trim thought.

== Zamin, p. 56

Gyan Chand:

;Gubaar is here an iihaam -- that is, 'dust' is not intended, but rather dejection, longing. From the feeling of deprivation too, the heart becomes dust-stained.

For moving around in madness, we didn't obtain a sufficient field-- that is, the world was not enough for our moving around. After dying, into nonexistence too we took with us this longing, that 'In the world there wasn't a desert of the kind we wanted; perhaps after this world, in nonexistence we would obtain a sufficiently broad desert'.

== Gyan Chand, p. 91

FWP:

SETS == DOUBLE ACTIVATION
DESERT: {3,1}
EXISTENCE/NONEXISTENCE: {5,3}
GRANDIOSITY: {5,3}
MADNESS: {14,3}

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 For more on Ghalib's unpublished verses, see the discussion in {4,8x}.

For discussion of expressions compounded with yak , see {11,1}.

The wordplay of the physical 'dust' of the desert versus the metaphorical dust of 'vexation' that afflicts the heart is enjoyably punchy. The heart is imagined as a metal mirror in need of polishing; for more on this see {128,1}; both the literal and the metaphorical senses of the 'dust' are fully activated. Moreover, 'dust of the desert' is wihheld till the last possible moment, to wrap things up in mushairah-verse style. For more examples of 'double activation', see {120,3}. For more such wordplay with ;Gubaar , see {170,4} and {228,3}.

It's possible that the speaker went off 'to nonexistence' not through death or some other happenstance, but by stomping out in a huff, seeking a place where his madness could have the necessary room to spread itself, and sufficient space to move around in.

This verse belongs to the 'snide remarks about the natural world' set; for others, see {4,8x}.

 

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