nah hove kyuu;N-ke use far.z qatl-e ahl-e vafaa
lahu me;N haath ke bharne ko jo vu.zuu jaane
1) how would it not be 'obligatory' for her, the slaying of the people of faithfulness--
2) [for her] who would consider bathing her hands in blood to be 'sacred ablution'?!
far.z : 'A thing or duty made obligatory (by God, for neglecting which one will be punished), a divine command; a moral obligation, an indispensable duty; a statute, an ordinance, injunction, a command or prohibition (of the prophet Mohammad); obligation, onus, responsibility'. (Platts p.779)
vu.zuu : 'Sacred ablution performed before prayer, and which consists in washing, first the hands, then the mouth inside, then throwing water on the forehead, washing the whole face, the arms, and lastly the feet)'. (Platts p.1196)
'Sacred ablution' is obligatory, and the murderer considers bathing her hands in blood to be 'sacred ablution'. Thus she has to slay the people of faithfulness and bathe her hands in their blood.
The one who would consider bathing the hands in blood to be such a good action, like the doing of 'sacred ablution'-- she will consider the slaying of faithful lovers too to be obligatory, like prayer [namaaz].
SETS == GROTESQUERIE
ISLAMIC: {10,2}
For more on Ghalib's unpublished verses, see the discussion in {4,8x}. See also the overview index.
Asi makes explicit the enjoyably paradoxical logic-- 'For her, it's certainly obligatory'. The verse does not suggest in any way that she is wrong to think so. For ordinary Muslims, doing the ritual ablution is part of the obligatory preparation for the obligatory prayer; for the cruel beloved, doing ablution in blood is part of the obligatory preparation for-- what, exactly? For prayer as a form of slaughter? For slaughter as a form of prayer? For some alien, heretical rite? (The beloved is an 'infidel' [kaafir], after all.) The answer is left entirely to our own imagination.
Note for grammar fans: In the first line, kyuu;N-ke is really kyuu;N-kar ; it's been shortened at the end to fit into the meter.
Asi:
That tyrant who would consider getting blood on her hands to be 'sacred ablution'-- for goodness sake, why would she not consider the slaying of the people of faithfulness to be obligatory? For her, it's certainly obligatory.
== Asi, p. 288