Ghazal 232, Verse 1

Nazm:

In one single line, sorrow and an interpretation of it-- then, the confrontation of 'less' and 'much'! In addition to the innovativeness of the theme, there's this excellence. (262)

== Nazm page 262

Bekhud Dihlavi:

He says, in enduring sorrow and grief the unsuccessful heart has proved so feeble and weak that regret over this commonplace kind of thing-- that today only a little rose-colored wine has remained-- with regard to it has become a mountain of grief. (319)

Bekhud Mohani:

In this verse an aspect of the 'beauty of seeking' [for new themes, etc.] has emerged, from which it is apparent that this rakish one [rind] has very rarely had to endure the sorrow of a shortage of wine. Otherwise, he would have been habituated to it. By calling the heart 'unsuccessful' and 'feeble' he has removed an objection: that is, if he had not done this then the addressee would have objected, 'Really, you've now become so feeble!'. Now he can't even say that. In the second line is sorrow and an interpretation of it; in addition to that, there's also the confrontation of 'less' and 'much'. (489)

FWP:

SETS == OPPOSITES
WINE: {49,1}

The commentators pick up on the play of opposites, and how could they not? But there's also the question of the relationship of the two lines. Here are some possible readings:

=The unsuccessful heart is so feeble in its ability to endure grief that even the small, trivial grief of a shortage of wine is all that it can stand.

=The unsuccessful heart is so feeble in its ability to endure grief that it needs the help of wine in order to carry on at all-- so how terrible that there should be a shortage of this necessity!

=It's an unequal contest, it's quite unfair: the unsuccessful heart is very poor at enduring grief, and this grief (of the shortage of wine) that it's been given to endure is a very large one!

For another 'less/more' verse-- one that establishes the importance of having wine, and lots of it-- compare {216,1}.