Thursday, April 17, 2008
dil ki wo haalat ke dam lene se ghabra jaaye hai
[shauk=ardor] the passion of love never tires of lamenting and groaning while the heart is in such a state that cant even breathe. It just depicts the height of misery of the lover who, probably, due to rejection/unresponsive lover wants to cry and cry but heart is not able to support a single breath in between. Frankly, it still seems mysterious to me.
nagma ho jaata hai vaan gar naala mera jaaye hai
par hum aise khoye jaate hain ki wo paa jaaye hain
misl-e-naqsh-e-mudda-e-ghair baitha jaaye hain
rang khulta jaaye hai jitna ki udta jaaye hain
Having experienced the love herself, the angel face of my beloved has become all so more delicate. I dont want to kill the beauty of second line and as it is, its pretty straightforward. I would just add that the discovery of her own love or embarrassment has caused her face to whiten but as it happens, it has become clearer/ even more beautiful.
(If you have watched Gulzar's documentary of Mirza Ghalib, this particular line is used when Navaabjaan discovers the identity of Ghalib)
kheenchta hai jis qadar, utna hi khinchta jaaye hai
[Musavvir=artist]The wordplay here is of 'khinchna' which can be to draw or attract/pull. The lines show the magic of the creations on the creator, the art on the artist, the beloved on the lover. The art is so influential over the artist that it draws(attracts) the artist to the same extent that he literally draws it. In the other context, the beloved pulls the lover by her charm and then teasingly draws away to same extent. Again, open to multiple interpretations here.
paas mujh aatish-bazaan ke kisse thehra jaaye hai
Asad is the lesser used 'takhallus' of Ghalib and there is an interesting story behind it. Here, Ghalib says that even his shadow wants to vanish away as does smoke (misl-e-dood). This can either be due to the fact that he is aatish-bazaan or fire provoking (more so burning himself in his difficulties) or it is the heat of his passion that is repelling everything.
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Phew!
All in all, I would just say that there is no end to the possible interpretations of each and every verse of Ghalib. First of all, his usage of unusual and recherche farsi terms is not easily comprehensible; secondly, the shers are so concise in expression that they leave most part to be imagined/interpreted individually/deduced. It is not only his expertise of language but wit that he comes up with such unimaginable couplets.
Labels: ghalib
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