210_06

{210,6}

karne ga))e the us se ta;Gaaful kaa ham gilah
kii ek hii nigaah kih bas ;xaak ho ga))e

1) we had gone to make to her a complaint of negligence/heedlessness
2) she gave only/emphatically one glance, when-- enough!-- we became dust!

Notes:

ta;Gaaful : 'Unmindfulness, heedlessness, forgetfulness, neglect, negligence, inattention, inadvertence, indifference, listlessness'. (Platts p.328)

;xaak honaa : 'To become or be reduced to dust; to be ruined'. (Platts p.485)

*Platts Dictionary Online*

Hali:

Perhaps the affair of the non-lover with the True Beloved is that He treats him with negligence, and the affair of the lover is constructed with a look .... Thus the meaning of the verse is that we became irritated at His negligence and complained, and the auspicious glance of attention took place. When He paid attention to us, then in one single glance He annihilated us.

==Urdu text: Yadgar-e Ghalib, p. 163

Nazm:

On that side, in every glance what heat there was! On this side, what inability to endure there was-- that he simply collapsed into dust. (239)

== Nazm page 239

Bekhud Mohani:

[Disagreeing with Nazm:] If you read the first line in a sarcastic tone, then you'll see the eloquence [fa.saa;hat] of his speech. On such occasions they say things like 'Off he went, the tiger-slayer!'. (428)

Faruqi:

[Compare his commentary on Mir's M{75,2}.]

FWP:

SETS == HUMOR
GAZE: {10,12}

On the clever, colloquially enjoyable placing and use of bas , see {210,1}, in which it's placed and used almost identically.

Bekhud's sarcastic reading of the first line adds an excellent fillip to the verse.

Of course, the verse can also be read as a report of a successful transaction, one in which the complaint is instantly resolved, and exactly along the lines that the complainer desires. After all, we know from many verses, such as {19,4}, that the lover longs to be fully, satisfyingly, once-and-for-all, slain by the beloved. Perhaps the lover goes to complain to the beloved about her negligence in performing exactly this service. Instantly she performs it-- and the recipient testifies to his satisfaction.

This is a verse of the 'dead lover speaks' set; for other such verses, see {57,1}.