ai char;x ;xaak bar sar-e ta((miir-e kaa))inaat
lekin binaa-e ((ahd-e vafaa ustuvaar-tar
1) oh sky, 'dust upon the head' for/from/of the construction of the universe!
2) but the foundation of the promise/vow of faithfulness-- stronger!
kaa))inaat : 'Existing things, existences, beings, creatures; the universe, the world; — property, possessions, means, stock, capital; — worth, value'. (Platts p.809)
binaa : 'Building, structure, edifice; foundation, basis, base; ground, footing, motive; root, source, origin; beginning, commencement'. (Platts p.168)
ustuvaar : 'Strong, powerful; stable, firm; even, level, equal; straight'. (Platts p.50)
tar : 'An affix, the termination of the comparative degree in Persian (and in Sanskrit)'. (Platts p.315)
Addressing the sky, he says, 'Over the construction of an unstable and recent universe, put dust [on your head?]. But the promise of faithfulness (that is, the promise that has been made between Creator and creature)-- may the Lord grant that its foundation would never be overthrown, that its strength would keep constantly increasing!' In the second line the word of prayer , baad [Persian, 'may it be'], is omitted from ustuvaar-tar baad .
For dust to be on the head is a sign of destruction and ruin. Oh sky, if the universe would become entirely wasted away, then there's no [cause for] grief. But may no shock/harm come to the foundation of the promise of faithfulness that the lover has made to the beloved! In other verses too Ghalib has mentioned the promise of faithfulness, by which is probably meant some promise that mankind has made to the Creator.
SETS == EXCLAMATION; IDIOMS; IZAFAT
GRANDIOSITY: {5,3}
SKY {15,7}
VOWS: {20,2}
For more on Ghalib's unpublished verses, see the discussion in {4,8x}. See also the overview index.
It's hard to imagine a better tribute to the powers of the i.zaafat , especially in a verb-free context like this one. It works well with the idiomatic expression ;xaak bar sar . For the flinging of dust on one's own head is a classic sign of deep sorrow; otherwise the presence of dust on or over the head is an image of death and decay, or a curse. Here are some of the ways these possibilities can play themselves out:
=Oh sky, {may dust be / dust is} flung upon your own head, in your repentance for having constructed this universe!
=Oh sky, {may dust be / dust is} upon your head, because of your construction of this universe!
=Oh sky, {may dust be / dust is} upon the head of the construction of this universe!
And as usual with Ghalib, the idiomatic expression works literally as well, for any process of 'construction' naturally raises great clouds of dust.
Then, through a similar absence of finite verbs, the second line can be taken either as asserting that the vow of faithfulness 'is' stronger, or else as demanding that it 'would be' (made) stronger. Stronger than the sky itself? Stronger than the present universe? Stronger over time? As so often, we are left to put the verse together for ourselves.
Of course, in the ghazal world the real 'promise of faithfulness' is ultimately, as Gyan Chand notes, the one that the lover has made to the beloved. (Any such 'promise' made by the beloved is so flimsy and impossible that it can hardly be taken seriously at all.) The lover's promise can quite well be taken in a religious sense, but it doesn't have to be. The lover's madly grandiose claims are quite capable of extending to the whole cosmos; for a fine example, see {68,5}.
Asi:
Oh sky, if you mingle with the dust the construction of the universe, I don't care. But make the foundation of the promise of faithfulness even more lofty-- as lofty as you can.
== Asi, p. 123