tim;saal-gudaaz aa))inah hai ((ibrat-e biinish
na:z:zaarah ta;haiyur chamanistan-e baqaa hech
1) the image-melting mirror is an admonition to vision
2) the sight-- amazement; the garden of eternity-- it's nothing!
tim;saal : 'Resemblance, likeness, picture, portrait, image, effigy'. (Platts p.336)
gudaaz : '(in comp.) melting, dissolving; consuming; exterminating; — melter; refiner'. (Platts p.899)
ta;haiyur : 'Being astonished, confounded, or disturbed; astonishment, amazement, wonder'. (Platts p.313)
hech : 'Not any, none, no; nothing; — worthless, good-for-nothing; — shallow, superficial; — a mere trifle; — adv. Never; at no rate, on no account at all'. (Platts p.1244)
hech : 'Nothing; a mere trifle; lost, annihilated; never, at no rate, on no account at all'. (Steingass p.1520)
The meaning is that the sight of the amazement-creating garden of existence, or the amazement-creating sight of the garden of existence, is nothing. Because this mirror (it was the mirror of the garden) is image-melting-- in it the reflection melts away. And from the image-melting mirror, apart from the sight receiving admonition, what other pleasure can it obtain? The gist is that from an unstable thing like existence one ought to receive admonition.
Existence is a mirror, in which a person's reflection is being shown. But this mirror is gradually causing the image to melt, and finishing it off. On looking into such a mirror, and being aware of its attribute, the sight receives admonition. The vision of the world bestows only amazement; and beyond it if we cast a glance upon the other world-- that is, the garden of the world of eternity-- then that too is nothing.
That is, the world is a place of admonition; looking at it brings amazement. The other world is nothing. That is, everything is displeasing and profitless.
For more on Ghalib's unpublished verses, see the discussion in {4,8x}. See also the overview index.
On the special, mystically framed nature of ;hairat , see {51,9x}.
I like Gyan Chand's reading: existence is a special kind of mirror, one that shows our reflection for a time and then melts or dissolves it away. This idea evokes {110,3}, in which we are letters erased from the tablet of the world. But the present verse is more radical, since the 'image-melting mirror', whatever we take it to be, apparently shows us not only the 'nothingness' of our own lives, but that of the whole 'garden of eternity' as well. So this verse definitely belongs to the 'snide remarks about Paradise' set; for others, see {35,9}.
Asi:
That mirror that melts a picture/image is, for vision, a source of admonition. Sight is nothing at all, and the garden of eternity is absolutely nothing. Or this: that the admonition of vision is an image-melting mirror, and for just this reason sight is amazed, and the garden of eternity is nothing.
== Asi, pp. 107-108