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 send me an email request; I will email back my previous explanations just for asking.

This is my 45^th 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 of you thought. Please forward this to your friends. Also please send me your comments/complements. I will appreciate if you forward me email addresses of your Urdu/non-Urdu friends.

Here is today’s verse (She’r) & its explanation in Urdu, Gujarati, and English                                           Please do visit my Ghalib website www.Mirza-Ghalib.org for past issues and much more. I guarantee, you’ll enjoy it 

Hai, kHayal-e-husn meiN, Husn-e-amal ka sa KHayal                                                                 Deliberation of beauty (beloved) is like practicing cardinal virtue                                                                                 KHuld   ka   ek  dar,  hai  meri  gor  ke    andar   khula                                                              A gate of paradise opened in my (dark) tomb.

Khayal=thought, deliberation       Husn=beauty, virtue, beautiful beloved, in Sufi deliberation it means God, because beauty is God.     Amal=action, deed, practice        Husn-e-amal=practicing of virtue        Khuld=paradise   Gor=grave, tomb

This is 5th verse of Ghalib’s 14^th Ghazal.                                                                                                                               Meaning: In this verse, Ghalib postulates that, for him, his mental deliberation of his beautiful beloved, is one and the same as practicing a cardinal virtue. According to Islamic belief, those who practice good deeds are spared from terror of interrogative angels Nakir and Munkir. Allah has assigned these angels for questioning every departed person in his/her grave. They hold book containing full account of deceased person’s deeds: good, bad, and ugly. Nakir and Munkir are very harsh on those whose account book is full of bad deeds; however, they spare virtuous people. According to Islamic belief, a gate of heaven opens in the grave a virtuous person.

Every moment of Ghalib goes by in thoughts of his beautiful beloved, so, he is actually practicing good deed without any interruption. Therefore, his account book is full of good deeds; he has qualified as a virtuous person; and is rewarded with a gate of heaven in his dark grave. It should be understood that Allah will raise dead people from their graves only on doomsday called Qayamat. Until Qayamat, the dead will remain in their graves. Accordingly, Ghalib talks about opening of a gate of heaven in his grave; he is not saying that he has been raised to heaven. (Wahabism, the Saudi Arabia’s official faith, hypothesizes that the dead, except for few such as prophets etc. have no power to listen to our prayers and be helpful. Therefore, Saudis and few other do not allow building of tombs so as not to give any opportunity to anyone to flock to tomb and start grave worshipping. Whereas Sufis, Sh’ias, and many other sects believe that departed saints do listen to our prayers and since they are closer to Allah, Allah will not reject the departed saint’s prayer. Among many other issues, the above subject has created a huge controversy between these two groups of believers.)

In Sufi tradition, Allah is beauty. Sufi worship Allah as a beloved. If we apply Sufi thought to this verse, the verse becomes supercharged, an electrified realm. Meaning, if anyone remembers God (the true beloved), even in darkness of his grave, the darkness of grave turns into light of heaven.

Finer aspects of this verse: Ghalib, in this verse, has used just three-four words like Husn-e-Amal(practicing of good deed), grave, heaven, etc. to cite the belief that a gate of heaven will open in grave of a virtuous person. In addition, every word of this verse is tightly related to the subject of the verse. Ghalib do not use fillers or extra words in his verse.                          This verse exalts status of love to a highest degree.

 Ghalibologists’ opinions:                                                                                                                                                  Saha, Hasrat & Tabatabai’s Opinion: In our grave, if we visualize beloved’s charming face, the darkness of grave becomes Garden of Eden; because, beloved’s face is vibrant like a garden. As if, thinking of beauty and beautiful deed have the same end result.

Bekhud’s opinion: I am so deep into thought of my beloved (The true beloved God), I consider it same as practicing cardinal good deed. In return, the Garden of Eden has descended in my grave.

 Asghar Vasanwala                                                                                                asgharf@roadrunner.com                                                                                                           December 16, 2007