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For those who
have joined now, let me say few words about this Ghalib series.
Ghalib, his
Ghazals, his poems, his genius, and his wits have always fascinated
millions of Urdu lovers including myself. Those who want to receive my
previous six installments; I shall email them for asking. My email
address is asgharf@adelphia.net
This is my 7th
installment. I have
received excellent response from lot of friends: both Urdu and non-Urdu
speakers. Please know that this is my own, Asghar Vasanwala’s, work; I
am not a forwarding of someone else’s work as some you thought. Please
forward this to your friends. Also please send me your
comments/complements; I will appreciate that.
Here is today’s
verse (She'r) in Urdu script and also in Roman script. This is the 2nd
she'r of Ghalib’s 4th Ghazal:
 
Ishq se tabiat ne zeest
ka maza paya
Through love I found life’s
enjoyment
Dard ki dava paee, dard-e-be-dava
paya
I found cure for my pain, an also
found endless pain
Zeest = life
tabia't = self, body & mind
dard-e-be-dawa =
incurable ache/pain.
This famous
verse is the second verse of 4th Ghazal. It is in short meter, has
simple words, and tells a lot about love.
Consider a sumo wrestler. His giant body size makes it sure that he will
suffer cardiovascular problems; may develop diabetes and several other
ailments beside day-to-day problems. But this is his choice! He loves
 whatever
he is. It is his love for wrestling that has put him in this dire
situation; but, he enjoys it.
Similarly a lover, an Aashiq, suffers every moment from the wounds that
love and his beloved inflicts upon him. Many lovers complain about their
helplessness, sleepless nights, restlessness, loss of weight, cheekbones
like Lincoln, lamentations, and cries. However, Ghalib thinks pain of
love is the sole purpose of life. He says life without love was boring
and purposeless. Love gave him that purpose and joy. He says, before he
fell in love, his life was in pain from boredom and lack purpose. Love
remedied that and in return gave an incurable pain of love; that the
pain of love made his life immensely enjoyable. It provided a purpose to
live. In other words, if one is not suffering the problems of love (Gham-e-Ishq),
he would be suffering boring mundane problems of day-to-day (Gham-e-doraN).
If
we take this verse to higher level of true love, called ishq-e-haqiqi in
Sufism terminology, it makes a different meaning. If one is in love with
God like Mansoor or Mira, he/she finds remedies of all worldly pains and
problems; though, then he/she gets into different breed of problems that
they actually enjoy.
Please note that this is the second verse (She'r)
of Ghazal, yet it has both lines rhyme “paya” as if it is a first verse
(She'r)
of a Ghazal. When both lines of the second verses of a Ghazal also
rhyme, the verse is called Matl'a-e-sani or second Matl'a. |
