Ghazal 34, Verse 8

Nazm:

Believing a faithless one to be faithful, you gave your heart; that is, you made an error: you considered an infidel a Muslim. The allusive ẓilʿa of dil-o-jān has also been articulated in this. (34)

== Nazm page 34

Vajid:

Urdu text: Vajid 1902 {34}

Bekhud Mohani:

One point in this is that one who has no faith is not a Muslim. (82)

Baqir:

In kāfir there is an īhām . He says, Oh Asad, why did you consider that faithless one to be faithful, and give your heart?.... To consider her faithful is just the same kind of error as to consider an infidel to be a Muslim. (113)

FWP:

SETS == PETRIFIED PHRASES
ISLAMIC: {10,2}

Nazm points out the subliminal evocation of the phrase, dil-o-jān , 'heart and life' (a petrified phrase like 'heart and soul' in English), at the beginning of the first line. The audience might well expect a parallel construction: dil diyā jān bhī dī , or the like. Only in retrospect is it possible to pick up the correct sense of jān .

The verb jān'nā, although it's usually translated 'to know', can also be used for erroneous beliefs; on this see {16,5}. Similarly, the verb samajhnā can mean not only 'to understand' (accurately), but also 'to consider' (subjectively, perhaps inaccurately); on this see {90,3}.

And Baqir explains the 'misdirection' involved in kāfir . We expect that it will be an affectionate, teasing epithet for the beloved. Only at the end of the line, when we see it contrasted with musalmāñ , do we realize it's meant literally.

Except, of course, that it still is an epithet for the beloved, both metaphorically and really; since in this verse the distinguishing mark of a musalmāñ is the faithfulness that she so clearly doesn't show, the two meanings can't entirely be disentangled.

This is another verse that would be hard to interpret as applying to a divine beloved; for more examples see {20,3}.