FWP:
SETS == MAGAR
PROPORTIONALITY: {6,4}
Here we have some lovely wordplay with khe;Nchnaa in its double sense of either pulling toward, drawing, attracting; or else of pulling (oneself) away, withdrawing. Because khi;Nchnaa is the intransitive form of khe;Nchnaa (see the definitions above), we have two readings available. On one reading, the more the lover tries to draw the beloved toward himself, the more she is (passively) drawn away from him, by the force of his own attracting-power [mujh se]-- an 'attracting' power that unfortunately seems to be working in reverse, as a kind of repelling-power (like similar magnetic poles). On the other reading, the more he tries to draw her toward himself, the more she draws herself (intransitively but deliberately) away from him, in a willed response to his attempts to attract her.
There's an undecideable, and very enjoyable, back-and-forth play between the literal meaning of 'attract' (like magnetic force) and the metaphorical meaning (like coquetry and flirtation). Along similar lines, the word ja;zbah appears here to be deliberately conflated with ja;zb , which isn't surprising since they're both closely related derivatives from the same Arabic root; the merging of 'passion' and 'attraction' contributes to the same literal/metaphorical interplay (see the definitions above).
This verse is also a perfect example of the less common meaning
of magar as 'perhaps' rather than 'but'. Though both
are possible here, the former is surely the reading of choice: it makes the
first line into a speculation about the cause of her unfortunate behavior.
(The reading as 'but' becomes part of an exclamation of surprise and protest
addressed to the Lord.)
Nazm:
The meaning of khe;Nchnaa is vexation and irritation-- that is as much as with the passion of the heart I draw/attract her, exactly that much she is vexed. (231)
== Nazm page 231