Ghazal 48, Verse 5

Nazm:

That is, previously we didn't understand the changing of one element into another; now we have tested it, and it has become credible. (43)

== Nazm page 43

Vajid:

Urdu text: Vajid 1902 {48}

Bekhud Dihlavi:

Up till now we were not convinced about the problem of the changing of elements. But when we saw that because of weakness and feebleness, our weeping changed into cold sighs, then after such a test we were convinced. (86)

Bekhud Mohani:

There was such an excess of weakness that neither did blood remain in the body, nor did the strength for weeping remain in the heart. Now instead of tears dust flies in my eyes. Indeed, I constantly heave cold sighs. Now, through experience, I've understood the problem of the changing of elements-- that water becomes air. (109)

Faruqi:

[See his comments on Mir's M{12,5}.]

FWP:

SETS
SCRIPT EFFECTS: {33,7}
SOUND EFFECTS: {26,7}
TESTING: {4,4}

The speaker suggests that the process of evaporation is analogous to the way weeping gives way to sighing after exhaustion sets in. If he had said that the process was identical, we'd have the official form of 'elegance in assigning a cause'. Instead, he presents his own experience as an illustrative example, a means of enhancing his understanding of scientific principles. For the lover, the whole cosmos revolves around the experience of passion: he accepts scientific principles only because they correspond to emotional realities. What teaches him about evaporation is not the observation of sun and water, but the experience of tears and sighs.

There's also a lovely bit of wordplay or 'script play': huʾā in the first line and havā in the second line are spelled identically in Urdu script. In fact at the end of the first line, the dam-e sard , 'cold sighs/breaths', makes it very tempting to read the following word as havā , 'air'. This gives us, so to speak, two havā occurrences in the verse, along with bāvar to emphasize the sound effects. In addition, we have mubaddal bah dam , which contains the great aural phrase 'baddal badam' that in itself sounds like some kind of a small transformation.

For a very similar verse, see {48,7}.