Ghazal 413x, Verse 7

{413x,7}

kyuu;N nah firdaus me;N doza;x ko milaa le;N yaa rab
sair ke vaas:te tho;Rii sii fa.zaa aur sahii

1) why would/should we not bring Hell into Paradise, oh Lord?
2) with regard to strolling/scenery-- a little bit more spaciousness, indeed!

Notes:

sair : 'Moving about, strolling, stroll, ramble, walk, taking the air, airing, perambulation, excursion, tour, travels; recreation, amusement; scene, view, spectacle, landscape'. (Platts p.711)

 

fa.zaa : 'Width, spaciousness, openness, extensiveness (of ground, &c.); an open area, a court, a yard; a spacious tract, a wide expanse of land'. (Platts p.782)

 

aur : 'And, also, for the rest, besides, again, moreover; but, yet, still; over, else; and lo!; — another, other, different; more, additional'. (Platts p.104)

FWP:

SETS
ISLAMIC: {10,2}

For more on Ghalib's unpublished verses, see the discussion in {4,8x}.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

This ghazal is extremely late (1865) and has received very little commentarial attention.

On the idiomatic range of sahii expressions, see {9,4}.

Oh, this is an adorable verse! My favorite thing about it is the implied 'we' in the first line (since Ghalib always addresses the Lord himself with the intimate tuu , never with aap ). I like to imagine the 'we' as including both humans and the Lord. The tone is casual, a sudden thought-- an inspiration for a minor domestic improvement ('Hey, I have an idea-- why don't we remove this partition?').

The advantage of doing so? 'A little more space'. The implication: that Paradise is a bit constrained, a bit too narrow.

What do we need the space for? 'Strolling around'. The implication: that Paradise is a bit of a bore-- there's nothing much to do, one just keeps 'strolling around'.

Any disadvantages? Apparently none worth mentioning. The implication: that Paradise and Hell are much of a muchness; they could be merged anytime, for any trivial reason.

Obviously, this verse is a prominent member of the 'snide remarks about Paradise' set; for others, see {35,9}.

Compare {118,2}, which more dramatically but less enjoyably envisions the opposite possibility: of locating Paradise within Hell.