Ghazal 37, Verse 3x

Asi:

Bloomingness always remains in an ambush of taqriib-juu))ii -- that is, that by some approach it would be able to reach me. But it doesn't find any approach, because I am the ta.savvur of those people who are sorrowful without reason and without cause.

== Asi, p. 65

Zamin:

That is, the way that the imaginations of causelessly afflicted ones always search for some aspect of sorrow, since other than sorrow nothing else gives comfort to them, my situation is just the same. So that when an aspect of bloomingness would come before me, the heart would bring before the gaze dozens of kinds of witheredness, as if that happiness was a preface to sorrow.

The meaning is just what has been expressed, but the words do not support it. The question arises, what is bloomingness intent upon [makiindaar]? The answer is given, upon taqriib-juu))ii . What is taqriib-juu))ii ? Nothing! Then, the verse too is nothing! In order to make the verse meaningful, the line needed to be like this: shiguftan makiindaar-e pazhmurdagii hai .

== Zamin, p. 61

Gyan Chand:

People who are very sensitive remain afflicted, willy-nilly. In their imagination one or another imagined or real cause for afflictedness remains established. Exactly this is my situation. Bloomingness is searching for an excuse to somehow obtain access to me. But I am one who remains afflicted without any special cause. When will I be able to give bloomingness an occasion to come near me?!

== Gyan Chand, p. 97

FWP:

SETS == A,B

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 For more on Ghalib's unpublished verses, see the discussion in {4,8x}.

On this ghazal as a kind of unlabeled verse-sequence, see {37,1}. On the macaronic structure of this ghazal, with its Persian first lines and Urdu second lines, see {37,2}.

'Bloomingness' is an ambush-place, a place where something lies in wait, preparing to pounce on its prey. And that something is the highly abstract notion of 'the search for taqriib '. In view of the wide range of taqriib (see the definition above), here are some possible readings. 'Bloomingness' is the ambush-place where one might suddenly be pounced upon and forced to participate in a search for:

='nearness' (to 'bloomingness' and the glories of the natural world)
='access' (to the Divine or other source of such bloomingness)
=the 'occasion' (that is specifically marked by such bloomingness)
=the 'cause' or 'means' (that would generate such bloomingness)
=the 'pretense' or 'motive' (for such a tricky ambush by bloomingness)

Once the first line has spun out such a cloud of possibilities, we turn to the second line-- and of course have to start afresh, and then to decide for ourselves how to connect the two lines. The speaker himself is the 'image, idea, fancy', etc., of those who are 'causelessly' or 'unnecessarily' afflicted. Here, thanks to the clever ambiguity of kaa , two possibilities appear. Perhaps the speaker is the mental image formed by others, of what such 'causelessly afflicted' people would be like, so that one thinks of people like that, one thinks of him (either personally, or as some ideal type); or else when one makes a composite mental image, it turns out exactly to resemble him. Or alternatively-- as the second possibility-- perhaps when 'causelessly afflicted' people themselves form an ideal (?) mental image of their condition, they think of him.

And who are these 'causelessly' afflicted people, anyway? It's quite possible that they're the natural melancholics or hyper-sensitive types envisioned by the commentators-- people who generate their own inner clouds of gloom. But it's also quite possible that they're 'afflicted' by external circumstances as we all are, and that these troubles that have come down on their heads appear to be without reason or cause-- thus the eternal cry, 'Why me?'.

In either case, it's entirely plausible that such people would seek to explore the causes of their suffering-- and that the bloomingness of spring would be an especially powerful trigger for such thoughts. The archetypal speaker asks himself endless questions: 'Why does the universe that produces the radiant bloomingness of springtime and natural beauty, produce barrenness and bleakness in my life? Is the process entirely random and meaningless, or is there some hidden cause (or divine Causer) behind it all? Was it inevitable from the beginning of the universe, that such seemingly causeless suffering should be my fate? Is the bloomingness a trick, cleverly designed to heighten my torment? Or is bloomingness the reality, while my own inner bleakness is in fact wrong or unnecessary?' He may go on asking such questions forever, but we all know he'll never get an answer.