Ghazal 424x, Verse 3

Zamin:

The turned-to-blood ones are henna on the foot of destiny-- that is, the death of lovers doesn't occur even at the time when it is destined, because to the foot of destiny has been applied the henna of passed-away lovers. And the anecdote [la:tiifah] is worth noting, that those slain by love are killed, and are also still alive. And this state is due to the tough-lifedness of those who have passed away through passion. And this same tough-lifedness places the sight in amazement. Thus tough-lifedness is the springtime of the amazement of sight; and it's also a springtime (mood) that on the feet of destiny henna was applied-- destiny that never fails to come on time!

== Zamin, p. 450

Gyan Chand:

paa bah ;hinaa bastan = for the feet to be useless and worthless; paa dar ;hinaa = for the feet to be wounded. Thus by ;hinaa-e paa is meant something that prevents the feet from moving.

The intensity of amazement of the gazer is the cause of his tough-lifedness. That is, it does not allow his life to leave. Oh beloved, your slain one, or wounded one, is lost in the amazement of sight. His life has become henna for the feet of death-- that is, it prevents death from moving along, and death cannot come to him. Thus it is passing as tough-lifedness.

== Gyan Chand, p. 472

FWP:

SETS
GAZE: {10,12}
HENNA: {18,4}
SPRINGTIME: {13,2}

For more on Ghalib's unpublished verses, see the discussion in {4,8x}.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

As Gyan Chand notes in discussing {424x,1}, the addressee throughout this ghazal seems to be the Lord (or else a beloved so divinized that it's hard to tell the difference).

Here sa;xt-jaanii is the state of having a 'tough life', in the sense of being resilient and stubborn and hard to kill, like a weed. This quality is identified with the flourishing of the 'amazement' of sight (on the particular nature of ;hairat see {51,9x}). It seems as though some entity perhaps has a hard-to-kill quality that makes it a continual source of ever-fresh amazement to the beholder. But really this line is so abstract that it remains uninterpretable until, after the usual mushairah-performance delay, we are finally allowed to hear the second line.

The second line, as so often, starts afresh, with entirely different imagery. When henna (on henna see {18,4}) is freshly applied to someone's feet, patterns are often drawn on the soles of the feet as well; thus that person cannot walk until the henna has had time to dry. The dead lovers who in their passion and suffering have been 'turned to blood', have become 'henna on the feet of destiny'; of course henna is a reddish color, like blood. That is, the dead lovers' blood has not only adorned the feet of destiny, but has also slowed, or even stopped for a time, its onward progress. And exactly this is the proof of their 'tough-lifedness'-- they can be killed, but they live on. And this too happens 'through you', says the speaker (approvingly? reproachfully?) to the Lord.

For an even more elaborate, pluralized sa;xt-jaaniiihaa verse, see {1,2}.