Verse 6x1816aaho
G2
1
may we not see a face that is entirely/'single-heart' cold/cool, other than a candle of camphor
'Of camphor, made of camphor; camphorate; white as camphor, transparent white, snow-white'.
'Frozen, frigid, benumbed; withered, faded; dispirited, dejected, low-spirited, melancholy'.
| References | |
|---|---|
| Arshi, Imtiyaz Ali | Ghazal# 117 |
| Raza, Kalidas Gupta | 218-19 |
| Nuskhah-e-Hamidiyah | 167-168 |
| Asi, Abdul Bari | 193-194 |
| Gyan Chand | 302-304 |
| Hamid Ali Khan | Open Image |
'Oh Lord, in Asad's gathering may the heat of spectacle be to such an extent that we would not find even a single heart to be cold! If there would be anything cold, then let it be only the camphor of the candle.'
== Asi, p. 194
May the gathering be eager for a spectacle-- that is, may the people of the gathering (it is Asad's gathering of ghazal-recitation) be so happy and joyous that the gathering would be lively/'hot'. That is, may Asad's poetry be widely popular. Or this: may the candle of the beloved's radiance enliven Asad's gathering and cause the market for the camphor candle to be cold. Or else this: that there are found to be in Asad's gathering other 'people of heart' besides Asad; thus there is hesitation in seeking privacy with the beloved.
== Zamin, p. 288
= melancholy/cold []
'Oh Lord, in Asad's gathering may so many beautiful ones be assembled, and because of them may so much enthusiasm come into the gathering, that no one's heart would remain melancholy/cold except for that of the camphor candle. Camphor is cool/cold []. For this reason the heart of the camphor candle can be cold-- that is, melancholy.
== Gyan Chand, p. 304
For background see S. R. Faruqi's choices . This verse is NOT one of his choices; I thought it was interesting and have added it myself. For more on Ghalib's unpublished verses, see the discussion in 4,8x .
On expressions compounded with , see 11,1 .
In South Asia, camphor is traditionally considered to be medicinal and 'cooling'. Melancholy too has an aspect of coldness, as Gyan Chand makes clear when he explains (see the definition of above). By contrast, enthusiasm is metaphorically warm or hot; thus Asad (assuming that he is the speaker, as seems most plausible) wishes that his gathering would be 'warm' and lively, with nothing cool/cold in it except the camphor candle.
The commentators assume that Asad wishes, as any host would, for a successful party: 'Oh Lord, may everybody have a good time!'. But actually his aspirations are considerably bleaker than that. What he really asks of the Lord is that everybody in the gathering would be 'eager/hot for a spectacle'-- that they would be enthused at the prospect of seeing some kind of a show, so that at least 'to this extent' [] Asad's gathering would be lively and successful. In 22,9 , the rumor that Ghalib would be 'torn to pieces' brought out many eager spectators; in that case it turned out that the hoped-for 'spectacle' didn't actually take place, but who knows-- maybe things would turn out differently this time!
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