Ghazal 274x, Verse 2

Asi:

This outward darkness and blackness is the sign of a poetic/creative [Asi's text has mauzuu;N instead of aagah] temperament. Oh heedless ones, the dust of the book is not dust-- rather, it is the reflection of the writing/blackening of the page, which is a proof of accomplishment.

== Asi, p. 95

Zamin:

In this verse, by 'darkness' is meant a 'bad condition'. That is, the sign of being a poet (the sign of a poetic/creative temperament) [Zamin's text has mauzuu;N instead of aagah], is a bad condition. Oh heedless ones, what do you consider the dust of a book to be? This writing is the reflection of the book. The gist is that from having ragged and worn-out clothes, there's no diminution of accomplishment. The way from dust falling on a book, no harm comes to its meaning and purpose.

== Zamin, p. 136

Gyan Chand:

tiiragii-e :zaahirii = outward crudity or dirtiness. Sometimes it happens that in a tattered garment, rubies are hidden. Some divinely-inspired or learned person in commonplace clothing makes himself appear outwardly ignorant and unseeing, but his temperament is aware and alert-- the way on a book dust shows the blackness of the page. It is not ordinary dust; it shows that beneath it are pearls of knowledge.

== Gyan Chand, p. 167

FWP:

SETS == POETRY
WRITING: {7,3}

For more on Ghalib's unpublished verses, see the discussion in {4,8x}. See also the overview index.

The alternative reading of mauzuu;N for aagah has some manuscript support, and shows the lines along which Ghalib was thinking.

In the first line, tiiragii is at first almost impossible to interpret-- what kind of 'darkness', and why does it show the presence of creativity or awareness? Under mushairah performance conditions, we're of course made to wait in suspense for a while, until we're allowed to hear the second line. That line provides us with an explanation, and offers a (suggestively allegorical) poetic 'proof' of the claim.

To write is to 'blacken' the page with dark inky letters, which is a sign of learning, awareness, creativity. This darkness may find a 'reflection' or counterpart in the dust on the book-cover. In South Asia, such dust on books is ubiquitous-- I well remember the way a bookseller would pick up a dusty book and routinely snap a long cleaning rag against it, with an actual pop, dislodging a cloud of fine dust, before showing it to me.

So it would be foolish and 'heedless' to disdain a book for its dusty cover. Or, by implication, to disdain the author of such books for his own 'darkness'-- it too is an outer reflection of inner creativity. And the verse is careful to give us no hint of what form such an author's 'darkness' would actually take.