Ghazal 109, Verse 4x

Asi:

Like a shadow, in servitude we have maintained a temperament of submission and acceptance; and the way that on the 'open' forehead of a shadow there is a single wound of submission, in the same way we too willingly have taken with an 'open' forehead the wound of the heart. The 'open' forehead of a shadow is that place where the shadow would fall, and is that ground for which an 'open forehead' is an extremely harmonious and suitable simile.

Or else this: with an 'open' forehead we maintain the wound of our heart, the way a shadow keeps the scar/wound of slavery on its forehead. This latter meaning is more suitable and plausible.

== Asi, p. 170

Zamin:

That is, the way a shadow is entirely a wound (prostration), which is a symbol of servitude, in the same way our heart-wound too has appeared on our 'open' forehead, which is a token of submission (servitude). hame;N bandagii me;N hai tasliim = we have given ourselves over to servitude. This usage of tasliim honaa is contrary to Urdu idiom.

== Zamin, p. 251

Gyan Chand:

From servitude, a wound falls upon the heart. An 'open' forehead is a sign of cheerfulness. The meaning of the second line is not that we duplicated the wound in the heart on the open forehead; rather, it means that along with an open forehead we maintain a wound in the heart. A shadow is the servant of its shadow-caster, and it wholeheartedly accepts this relationship. We too have very cheerfully accepted the wound of servitude on our heart.

== Gyan Chand, p. 274

FWP:

SETS == BAH
BONDAGE: {1,5}

For background see S. R. Faruqi's choices. For more on Ghalib's unpublished verses, see the discussion in {4,8x}.

A shadow 'prostrates' itself at the shadow-owner's feet, because the end of the shadow always touches the shadow-maker's feet, and because the rest of the shadow lies on the ground. The speaker's surrender, or acceptance, or prostration, in servitude is like that of a shadow in its absoluteness (since the shadow can't imagine any other form of life). Depending on how we read kushaadah (see the definition above),

=the speaker keeps a 'cheerful, happy' face that belies the presence of a wound in his heart.

=the speaker keeps a 'subjugated, subdued' face that shows the presence of a wound in his heart.

=the speaker keeps a face that is is 'open, revealed', while the wound in his heart remains hidden.

The verse thus elegantly explores the various possibilities of kushaadah ; the protean grammar of bah also plays its part in assuring flexibility.

Moreover, the jabii;N itself cleverly does double duty, since the forehead or face is a primary means for revealing (or concealing) emotion, and is also the part of the body involved in literal prostration like that of a shadow (as a sign of humility, sometimes even literally marked by contact with the ground, as in {91,10}). The face is also prominently involved in gestural acts of symbolic prostration (as in the courteously deferential greeting of tasliim ).

Note for grammar fans: It's of course grammatically inviting to read: 'we keep a wound in our heart that has a cheerful, happy expression' (or 'a subjugated, subdued expression'). But the effort required in endowing the heart-wound with a 'forehead' or a 'face' seems too distracting to be poetically effective.