377x_05

{377x,5}

niqaab-e yaar hai ;Gaflat-nigaahii ahl-e biinish kii
mizhah-poshiidaniihaa pardah-e ta.sviir-e ((uryaa;N hai

1) the veil of the friend/beloved is the heedlessness-vision of the people of sight
2) the eyelid-garments are the veil/pardah of a naked picture

Notes:

mizhah : 'Eyelid; — eyelash'. (Platts p.1029)

poshiidanii : 'Fit to be put on, proper to be worn; clothing, dress'. (Steingass p.260)

ta.sviir : 'Picture; drawing; sketch; painting; portrait; an image'. (Platts p.326)

*Platts Dictionary Online*

Asi:

The heedlessness-vision of the people of sight has placed a veil over the face of the friend/beloved, and their closing of their eyes has become a veil for this picture of nakedness. The gist is that her/his glory/appearance is present everywhere, but is not visible because we ourselves are heedless, and our heedlessness has become a veil for her/his glory/appearance.

== Asi, p. 232

Zamin:

That is, nature is a naked picture, but our own eyes are closed toward it; otherwise-- {130,1}.

== Zamin, p. 350

Gyan Chand:

People's glances/gazes are heedless, thus they don't manage to see the beloved; and this heedlessness has become a veil on the face of the friend/beloved. To hide the eyelashes-- that is, not to turn them in the correct direction-- is a veil for the open/exposed picture of the friend/beloved. The eyelashes have a similitude with a split-bamboo screen [chiq].

== Gyan Chand, p. 357

FWP:

SETS
CLOTHING/NAKEDNESS: {3,5}
EYES {3,1}
VEIL: {6,1}

For more on Ghalib's unpublished verses, see the discussion in {4,8x}.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

Here is one more example of a remarkable Ghalibian practice: every time the word ((uryaa;N appears, it is in the most emphatic, closural position, as the rhyme-word. For discussion and examples, see {6,1}.

The clunkily-phrased eyelid-'garments' are presumably there-- along with niqaab and pardah -- for wordplay with the 'naked' picture of the friend/beloved. But Gyan Chand cleverly notes that the 'eyelashes' too might be held to resemble a split-bamboo screen or 'chick' [chiq]: