Ghazal 404x, Verse 3

{404x,3}*

barg-reziihaa-e gul hai va.z((a-e zar-afshaandanii
baaj letii hai gulistaa;N se gul-andaamii tirii

1) the leaf-scatterings of the rose, is a condition/state of gold-spreadingness
2) it takes a tribute/tax from the garden, your rose-bodiedness

Notes:

va.z((a : 'Condition, state; — appearance, form, guise; — gesture, action; — conduct, behaviour'. (Platts p.1196)

 

baaj : 'Tribute, tax, toll, duty, impost'. (Platts p.118)

Asi:

For the flowers to rain down leaves is a kind of present/offering of money [nichhaavar] that is being rained down on you. Oh cruel one, your rose-bodiedness and delicacy receives tribute/tax from the garden.

== Asi, p. 278

Zamin:

That is, flower petals are not raining down-- rather, gold is raining down from the flowers, and this is because the garden will give this gold as a tribute/tax to your rose-bodiedness.

== Zamin, p. 406

Gyan Chand:

The flower petals that rain down are making a present/offering of money [nichhaavar] on your head. You are delicate and beautiful like a flower, and in this way your rose-bodiedness is taking a tribute/tax from the garden.

== Gyan Chand, p. 405

FWP:

SETS

For more on Ghalib's unpublished verses, see the discussion in {4,8x}.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

Here is another verse that, like {404x,2}, aims at 'elegance in assigning a cause'. We had perhaps thought that the roses were simply shedding their petals, but we were wrong. In fact they were providing 'gold' with which to pay a 'tribute, tax' to the superior 'rose-ness' of the beloved. Perhaps it's a spontaneous show of admiration, or perhaps they actually owe her a 'tax'-- perhaps they have even rented or leased their own 'rose-ness' from her. This verse thus belongs to the 'snide remarks about the natural world' set; for others, see {4,8x}.

For a verse more specifically about the 'gold of the rose', see {105,3x}.

Perhaps it's even a bit refreshing to find such a simple verse among so many complex ones. (But no, not really; it's really just a big yawn.)