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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 read my
previous work please send me an email request; I will email back my
previous explanations just for asking.
This is my 49th
installment. I have received excellent response from many
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 might have
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 EnglishFor past issues and much more please do visit
my Ghalib website
www.Mirza-Ghalib.org. I
guarantee, you’ll enjoy it
These are the 1st,
2nd, & 3rd verses of Ghalib’s 16th
Ghazal.
Verse 1
Shab ke, barq-e-soz-e-dil se,
zahra-e-abr aab tha
This night on her no-show, my heart in frenzy, emitted laser of
fire and turned gallbladder of clouds liquid
Shola-e-jawwala, har yak halqa-e-gardab
tha
The heat of my heart generated such blazing vortex of water in
the sky, it looked like circles of whirling flames
barq-e-soz-e-dil
= lightening beam of burning heart zahra-e-abr = gall bladder of clouds
Shola-e-jawwala = Whirling flame halqa-e-gardab=circle
of vortex
Verse 2
VaaN karam ko, oozr-e-barish,
tha ana-gir-e-KHiram
There, “Rain is reining my pace” she said; her
justification for not bequeathing me a visit. (She should have come rain
or shine)
Girya se yaaN,
paNba-e-balish kaf-e-seylab tha
Here, her non-arrival, made me cry rivers; my frenzy ripped my
pillow and its cotton looked like foam in flood
VaaN =
there, on her side karam ko =karam
means kindness; her kind promise for a date
ana-gir-e-KHiram = ana means rein and KHiram means a slow-graceful walk
meaning reining of (her) pace
Girya=weeping
yaaN =here, on my side
paNba-e-balish =paNba means cotton and
balish means pillow, meaning cotton of my pillow kaf-e-seylab=foam
of flood
Verse 3
VaaN KHud aaraii ko tha moti
parone ka KHayal
There, she was rapt threading pearls to smarten herself
YaaN hujum-e-ashq meiN,
taar-e-nigah na-yaab tha
Here, poor me threading pearls of surging tears in filament of my
sight so close-knit that the filament became invisible.
(I got blind)
KHud aaraii
= self adoration, makeup moti
parone ka KHayal =preoccupied with threading pearls
hujum-e-ashq= surging tears
taar-e-nigah= filament of sight, rays of
light that hits retina na-yaab=not available, covered
Meaning:
In this whole Ghazal, with highly
exaggerated words, Ghalib has portrayed his state of affairs at the
night of promise. His beloved had promised him a date; but she failed to
show up. She made rain as an excuse. This Ghazal shows Ghalib’s power of
imagination and his power of using allegorical words and visualization.
Verse
1:- This night, disappointed with her
no-show, my heart got flared up. Fire beams from its heat rendered gall
bladder of clouds liquid, creating a vortex of fiery water that looked
like whirling flames. “Gall bladder becoming water” is an idiom meaning,
to tremble with fear and become water. In this verse, Ghalib has taken
great advantage of this idiom.
Verse 2:-
There, “Rain is reining my pace,” she said; her excuse for not
bequeathing me a visit. Though she should have come rain or shine and
fulfilled her promise. Here, waiting for her arrival, my frenzied head
was pounding on pillow and my eyes were crying rivers, flooding
everything around. In frenzy, my pillow was ripped and in flood of my
tears, its cotton looked like floating foam.
Verse 3:-
There, she is rapt threading pearls for her dressing and adoration.
Here, waiting her arrival, I am threading pearls of tears in filament of
my sight (rays of light that hits retina). I have threaded so many
pearls (tears) so densely, that the filament has gotten covered.
Shedding tears, I am blind; I cannot not see anything.
In this verse, Ghalib did not use slimily;
however, he has compared two similar occurrence s. This in itself is a
great skill. There are other fine points: Episodes of both lover and
beloved are the same; lover is threading so many tears in thread of
sight that he loses his vision. Whereas, beloved is indifferent to
lover’s agonizing condition; she is rapt in threading pearls to smarten
her self. Ghalib portrays lover’s tears and beloved’s preoccupation with
pearls for self-decoration, in such exaggerated terms; it is a feat no
one can duplicate.
Salam,
Asghar Vasanwala
asgharf@roadrunner.com
August 14, 2008
(714) 777-6675
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