z-bas niklaa ;Gubaar-e dil bah vaqt-e giryah aa;Nkho;N se
asad khaa))e hu))e surme ne aa;Nkho;N me;N ba.saarat kii
1) {to such an extent / although} the dust of the heart emerged, at the time of weeping, from the eyes
2) Asad, the having-been-eaten collyrium, in the eyes, created insight/discernment
ba.saarat : 'Seeing, perceiving, discerning; sense of sight, vision; insight, understanding, knowledge'. (Platts p.158)
It has the weakness that the reason for eating collyrium is not known, although the best guess is that he would have eaten it to close up his tongue from complaint about the beloved. The second [weakness] is that he has given no hint about a previous lack of insight, such that now there would be a mention that it had been created or increased.
For grief, complaint, deterioration, the simile of dust is used. If this [dust] would emerge, then the result is vision and energy/effort and cheerfulness. Dust also has a resemblance to collyrium. From eating collyrium, the voice gradually goes away; but from putting it in the eyes, brightness is created. When we wept, then by way of the eyes dust emerged. Not only was the voice closed up, but when this collyrium came into the eyes it also made the gaze brighter.
SETS == BASKIH
For more on Ghalib's unpublished verses, see the discussion in {4,8x}. See also the overview index.
This verse is a carefully designed intersection of several different domains of ghazal imagery. First of all, why is there 'dust' in the heart? This is because in Persian poetry the image of the heart as a 'mirror' is fundamental (on this see {128,1}). This mirror is archetypally metal, like most (though not all) ghazal-world mirrors. A metal mirror is particularly subject to gathering 'dust' in the form of verdigris or rust that must be polished away before the mirror can perform effectively. In this case, however, the dark 'dust' of grief is removed from the heart not by polishing but by weeping: it is washed from the heart by tears.
These dust-laden tears then emerge, ending up in and around the eyes. Their dark dusty quality resembles the black powder of collyrium, which is applied around the eyes for the protection and enhancement of vision (as well as beauty). Moreover, in the ghazal world collyrium is considered to be an enemy of the voice: eating collyrium causes the voice to be lost. For a full discussion of collyrium imagery, see {44,1}. I have never been able to figure out why anyone would eat collyrium, but this verse actually provides a reason of sorts: to experience grief is to 'eat' it [;Gam khaanaa]. Since here the collyrium is made from a 'dust' of grief in the heart, that grief has of course been 'eaten'.
The result of all these interactions is that the vision or 'insight, discernment' (see the definition above) is improved, while the voice is lost. The loss of the voice leads to silence-- which may also be a sign of enhanced 'insight, discernment'. Thus the imagery closes its own circle with delightful cleverness.
The two possible readings of z-bas (on this see {1,5}) are also available. If it is taken as 'to such an extent', then the idea is that so much dust emerged from the weeping eyes that the effects described in the second line were created. If it is taken as 'although', then the idea is that although the speaker experienced the most intense grief-- he wept so copiously that the grief-dust actually poured out with his tears-- still he also obtained the benefits described in the second line.
Asi:
When the dust of the heart emerged from the eyes at the time of weeping, then so to speak what he has called collyrium (by which is meant that silence should remain) created brightness in the eyes. Because it fell by way of the eyes. He has given to dust, because of its fineness, the simile of collyrium.
== Asi, p. 284