fanaa ko ((ishq hai be-maq.sadaa;N ;hairat-parastaaraa;N
nahii;N raftaar-e ((umr-e tez-rau paaband-e ma:tlab'haa
1) 'bravo' to oblivion/death, oh desireless ones, oh worshippers of amazement!
2) the speed of the fast-moving lifetime is not bound/'foot-tied' by purposes/goals
((ishq hai : 'An exclamation of praise; excellent! well done! bravo!'. (Platts p.761)
maq.sad : 'Thing aimed at, or intended, or purposed; object of aim or pursuit; intention, design, purpose; desire, wish; object, aim, scope'. (Platts p.1056)
paa-band : 'Tied by the leg; clogged, fettered, bound, restrained; encumbered (with a family, &c.); — one who is restrained or bound, a servant; a rope with which the forefeet of a horse are tied; fetters'. (Platts p.213)
ma:tlab : 'A question, demand, request, petition; proposition; wish, desire; object, intention, aim, purpose, pursuit, motive'. (Platts p.1044)
((ishq hai = praise be. The lifetime is obviously desireless. In the world, people are passing their lives in amazement. Oh you who pass your lives desirelessly, and oh you who who are lost in amazement, your fast-moving lifetime is not bound by any purpose/goal or desire. Oblivion loves your nature; for this reason the lifetime is advancing swiftly toward it.
It's very possible that ((ishq hai might have the meaning of 'praise be' [aafiriin hai]. In this case, the meaning will be, 'praise be to oblivion, that has finished off such a desireless life'.
For more on Ghalib's unpublished verses, see the discussion in {4,8x}. See also the overview index.
On the special effect of ;hairat in making people motionless, see {51,9x}.
For another verse that uses the idiomatic ((ishq hai , see {157,5}.
Within a framework of wordplay, the verse reminds us that having plans, projects, desires, intentions offers no guarantee that one will live long enough to carry them out. The lifetime runs along heedlessly, as fast as it pleases, so that its passage is really a kind of spectacle. Instead of trying urgently (and often vainly) to intervene in it and get things done, one might as well remain a spectator, in a state of detached wonder and amazement, and wait for death to ring down the curtain.
Zamin:
fanaa ko ((ishq = 'salutations [salaam] to oblivion'. It's the custom of free faqirs that when they meet then they salute each other by saying ((ishq all;ah . It is the proclamation of desireless ones and amazement-worshippers.
He says, 'Oh desireless ones! Oh slaves of amazement! Accept oblivion for yourselves, since the speed of the fast-moving lifetime is not bound by any purpose/goal. Your needs and desires cannot cause any halt in the movement of the lifetime. It will in any case arrive at its halting-place, whether your projects succeed or fail.'
== Zamin, p. 93