((ishq me;N ham ne hii ibraam se parhez kiyaa
varnah jo chaahiye asbaab-e tamannaa sab thaa
1) in passion, only/emphatically we abstained from importunity
2) otherwise, whatever is necessary-- the equipment/baggage of longing-- it was all there
ibraam : 'Twisting tight; wearying, disgusting; urgency, importunity'. (Steingass p.6)
parhez karnaa : 'To abstain (from), keep aloof (from), to be on one's guard (against), to avoid'. (Platts p.258)
asbaab : 'Implements, tools, instruments, apparatus, materials; goods, chattels, effects, property; furniture; articles, things; commodities, appliances, machinery; stores, provision; funds; necessaries; baggage, luggage; cargo'. (Platts p.47)
tamannaa : 'Wish, desire, longing, ... ; request, prayer, supplication, petition'. (Platts p.337)
He says that in passion, everything was there for the doing of longing.... But we ourself practiced endurance and self-control, and did not reveal any desire.
ham ne hii , tum ne hii have fallen from the level of eloquence [fa.saa;hat]; on the tongue of the eloquent ones is hamii;N ne , tumhii;N ne . And so it ought to be, because the hii applies to the subject, not to the ne .
== Zamin, p. 97
Because we were of an enduring temperament, we abstained from fulfilling our longings; otherwise, all the means and equipment for fulfilling them were present.
For more on Ghalib's unpublished verses, see the discussion in {4,8x}. See also the overview index.
Compare {232,7}, in which the lover makes considerable use of ibraam . It's an unusual Persian word; that verse is the only divan one in which it appears.
The versatility of asbaab always tickles my fancy. Just look, in the definition above, at the variety of things it can apply to! Whatever accoutrements the lover needs are entirely available. Moreover, the flexibility of the i.zaafat means that the equipment can be 'of' longing, or 'for' longing, or somehow 'pertaining to' longing. All that warehouse-ful of material! And all that holds back the whole resulting flood of 'urgency, importunity' is the lover's determination to restrain it. Will there come a time when the dam will break?
For another view of the 'equipment' of longing, see {255x,9}.
Asi:
We ourself always somewhat abstained from insistence and importunity. Otherwise, whatever equipment for longing is necessary, it was all present; and if I had so wished, then I could have importuned.
== Asi, p. 76