Ghazal 361x, Verse 7

Zamin:

barg-o-navaa = equipment. be-navaa))ii = desertness.

That is, the lover's property is only a provision of desertness; despite this, his enthusiam is such that he is ready to offer an 'invitation to a hundred reed-thickets'. In this way: that the typhoon of his laments is creating waves as far as the straw mat. That is, because he has nothing, he lies on a straw mat and keeps making a clamor of complaint.

In the first line .sadaa is out of its proper place, because to offer a hundred invitations to only one reed-thicket is not as effective as to offer an invitation to a hundred reed-thickets.

== Zamin, p. 409

Gyan Chand:

The meaning of be-navaa))ii is poverty and voicelessness both, and Ghalib intends both meanings. barg = equipment. The way a poor person might send invitations to many guests, in the same way I (who have resources of poverty and contentment) have sent invitations to hundreds of reed-thickets. Since reed-thickets are treasuries of reed-flutes, they are lament-groaning.

My heart is lamenting, and the typhoon of its laments had reached as high as the wave of the straw mat. For this there are two reasons. The first reason is that the straw mat itself is made from a reed-flute-- that is, from bamboo. The second reason is that it is a sign of poverty. Thus in both meanings the straw mat is a symbol of be-navaa))ii . The gist is that when there's nothing, and the desires are many, what would be the result except laments and sighs?

== Gyan Chand, p. 410

FWP:

SETS == IDIOMS; LIST; WORDPLAY

For more on Ghalib's unpublished verses, see the discussion in {4,8x}.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

For discussion of the imagery of the reed-thicket, see {10,3}.

This verse is a dense and brilliant network of wordplay, and it pivots around the wonderfully versatile word barg , which has three distinct meanings (see the definition above). If we take it to mean 'leaf', then it resonates with the 'reed-thicket' and the 'straw mat'. If we take it to mean 'provisions', then it resonates with be-navaa))ii as 'destitution', and with the 'straw mat' as a sign of extreme poverty. And if we take it to mean 'melody', then it resonates with be-navaa))ii as 'voicelessness', and with da((vat as 'call', and with the 'reed-thicket' from which reed flutes are obtained.

Zamin points out one elegant finishing touch: the (Persian) expression barg-o-navaa meaning 'wealth, equipment' (see the definition above). Characteristically, Ghalib evokes the idiom rather than using its literal form, and also disassembles it through wordplay.

Structurally speaking, compare {361x,1} and especially {360x,6} (two instances), which feature a similar 'one X and a hundred Y' structure. This ambiguous structure is simply a 'list'; it remains equally ambiguous in the present verse.

The only significant word in the verse that doesn't fit into the main imagery patterns is 'typhoon'. The second line seems to be illustrating the first one, on a smaller and more domestic scale. The lament of the heart is a furious storm of wind and rain-- but because of 'destitution' and 'voicelessness', this storm rages only far enough to create at most a tiny, absurd 'wave' or two in the flat, un-wavy straw mat.