Verse 12xafter 1826amhai ham ko
G5
In this meter the first long syllable may be replaced by a short; and the next-to-last long syllable may be replaced by two shorts.
1
the cloud weeps: 'Prepare a joyous gathering!'
2
the lightning smiles/laughs: 'We have the interval/leisure of some moments/breaths!'
tarab>> : 'Emotion, joyous excitement, joy, mirth, cheerfulness, hilarity'.
'To laugh, to smile; to be merry; to jest, joke, make fun'.
'A time, opportunity, occasion; freedom (from), leisure; convenience; relief, recovery; respite, reprieve; rest, ease'.
| References | |
|---|---|
| Arshi, Imtiyaz Ali | Ghazal# 119 |
| Raza, Kalidas Gupta | 372-373 |
| Gyan Chand | 492 |
| Hamid Ali Khan | Open Image |
The raining-down of clouds has the similitude of weeping, and the cause of the weeping is restlessness: there is the wish for a gathering of happiness. The way a child weeps in order to cause some desire to be fulfilled, in the same way the clouds are weeping and insisting. The flash of lightning has the similitude of smiling/laughing, but it is momentary. The lightning flashes as if it is smiling/laughing at the clouds' request: 'How small is the interval of life! How would a gathering be able to be arranged in an instant?!'
== Gyan Chand, p. 492
For background see S. R. Faruqi's choices . For more on Ghalib's unpublished verses, see the discussion in 4,8x . Ghalib chose this verse for inclusion in Gul-e ra'na (c.1828).
The simile of the rain as tears, and thus of the rainclouds as weeping, is obvious. That of lightning as smiling or laughing (since has both meanings) is based on the flash of brilliant white teeth as they are suddenly visible in a smile or laugh. (And of course, the sight of the beloved's teeth dazzles the lover's eyes as lightning does.)
These brilliant white teeth should also be imagined as flashing against a suitably dramatic background of blackened gums, since the use of ('a powder composed of yellow myrobalan, gall-nut, iron-filings, vitriol, &c., used for tingeing the teeth of a black colour', Platts p.1036) was very common in Ghalib's world. Admirers of Umra'o Jan may remember that the ceremony through which a formally entered the profession was called . For more on , see 417x,2 .
Compare 212,1 , another verse involving a smile/laugh and a show of teeth.
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