mu;hii:t-e dahr me;N baaliidan az hastii guzashtan hai
kih yaa;N har yak ;habaab aasaa shikast-aamaadah aataa hai
1) in the circumference/sea of the universe, to grow is to pass from existence
2) for here every single one, like a bubble, comes-- inclined to break
mu;hii:t : 'That which (or he who) surrounds, or contains, &c.; periphery, circumference (of a circle); the ocean'. (Platts p.1011)
baaliidan : 'To grow, to wax great'. (Steingass p.151)
guzashtan : 'To pass, pass by, outstrip, precede, proceed, go on, advance, ascend, surpass; to cross over, to abandon'. (Steingass p.1076)
shikast : 'Breaking, breakage, fracture; a breach; defeat, rout; deficiency, loss, damage'. (Platts p.730)
aamaadah : 'Prepared, ready, alert; disposed (to)'. (Platts p.79)
That is, in this world only/emphatically to grow is a cause of passing away, like the danger of water-- in which, having grown, a bubble at once bursts.
SETS
EXISTENCE/NONEXISTENCE: {5,3}
LIFE/DEATH: {7,2}
For more on Ghalib's unpublished verses, see the discussion in {4,8x}. See also the overview index.
When we hear the first line, we are left uncertain: why, within the 'circumference' of our universe, is 'growth' the same thing as 'passing away'? Under mushairah performance conditions, we're left to wonder for a time. Might the cause lie in humans' somehow 'outgrowing' the universe, through the power of passion and mystical insight?
When we're finally allowed to hear the second line, we're deprived of any such hopes. For we are given the image of a bubble: the larger it grows, the more fragile it becomes, until it finally bursts. The bubble bursts not because of extraneous forces but because it itself is 'inclined to break'. In fact it 'comes' into the world bearing with it this death-tendency.
The bubble is a peculiarly disheartening image, because its 'growth' is a mere empty inflation. We like to think of ourselves as 'growing' in more fruitful ways-- becoming more mature, more knowledgeable, more generous-spirited, and so on. The image of a blindly expanding bubble allows us no such positive hopes. And the universe is a 'sea' full of such hapless, transient, bubbles-- what an extraordinarily bleak vision!
Compare {105,2}, a more elegant, romantically beautiful treatment of the same theme.
Asi:
The world is a fathomless sea; here, the meaning of growing and flourishing is that one would pass from existence and renounce existence. Look at the bubble-- for it, growth is a means of breaking, and a preface to bursting; and its flourishing is a means for oblivion.
== Zamin, p. 286