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 read my previous work please Ctrl + click or copy and paste in internet address window, the following link:       http://www.mirza-ghalib.org or, if you choose, you may send me an email request; I will email back my previous explanations just for asking. 

This is my 37th 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 and 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 if you forward me emails of your Urdu/non-Urdu friends.

Here is today’s verse (sh’er) & its explanation in Urdu, Gujarati, and English

Hanoz, ek parto-e-naqsh-e-khayal-e-yar, baqi hai Till now, an imprint of shadow of my beloved’s thought, remains  Dil-e-Afsurda, goya hujra hai, yusuf ke zindaN kaAs if, my withered heart is cell of  Joseph’s prisonHanoz= Till now   parto=shadow, image         Naqsh=an imprint            Khayal-e-yaar= beloved’s thought, Dil-e-afsurda=withered heart  goya=as if ( Farsi verb guftan=speak and its imperative=go from this go word goya is formed)        hujra=cell,  zindaN=jail house, prison

This is the 9^th verse of Ghalib’s 10^th ghazal. Verse 8^th has been omitted.

Meaning: In this verse, Ghalib has described predicament of his heart. There was time when Ghalib’s heart remained bloomed by musing on time he had enjoyed with his beloved. But now his beloved rejects him and torments him. Due to this, his heart has withered and shrunken; the sweet nostalgic memory has said good bye. Yet, the imprint left by the shadow of those memories still linger in Ghalib’s heart i.e. her memory has gone, yet Ghalib is unable to forget her! In this verse Ghalib refers to a passage in Holy Qur’an about Jailing of Joseph. When lady Zulekha accused Joseph of molesting her, Zulekha’s husband Aziz threw Joseph in a dungeon of a jailhouse. However, the dungeon got lit up from the brilliance of Joseph’s beauty. It is said even after Joseph was released from the dungeon it remained bright. This was because the imprint of Joseph’s shadow remained lingering. Ghalib says, “My heart is like Joseph’s dark and narrow dungeon. It, also, has remained bright after the brilliant thoughts of my beloved memory have left; just because the imprint of those brilliant memories is still lingering in my heart’s chamber” Ghalib compares imprint of shadow of his beloved memory with imprint of Joseph’s shadow. He also compares the chamber of his heart with Joseph’s dungeon.

 Finer aspects of this verse: By mentioning Joseph of Holy Scriptures, Ghalib gives a new dimension to his own love: pure and sacred. By this, he also demonstrates his unmatched skill of telling a huge story in just two lines.

Ghalibologists’ opinions:                                                                                                                                                Aasi’s opinion: The use of word hanoz= until now, shows that Ghalib himself didn’t quit musing over beloved’s thought; the thought went away because his heart got withered and shrunk due to constant torment and rejection of his love by his beloved. The heart’s holding capacity was destroyed by this shrinking. Simile of heart’s chamber with Joseph’s dungeon is brilliant.

 Sayeed’s opinion: The Mark of Joseph’s shadow lingering on, in the dungeon, even after Joseph’s ‘s release. In the same way shadow of Ghalib’s beloved’s thought is still lingering in the chamber of Ghalib’s heart.