Verse 11x1816aahai
G2
1
because of the onrush/impetuosity of the scattering of blood, the color cannot fade/'fly'
2
the henna of the Hunter 's hand/clutch/grasp is a bird with a string on its foot
'Rushing (upon, or at, - ); attacking; crowding, swarming (round, or about, - ); —assault, attack; effort; impetuosity; —crowd, throng, concourse, mob; a swarm'.
'The hand with the fingers extended; claw, paw (of a tiger, &c.); clutch, grasp, possession, power'.
| References | |
|---|---|
| Arshi, Imtiyaz Ali | Ghazal# 181 |
| Raza, Kalidas Gupta | 277-79 |
| Nuskhah-e-Hamidiyah | 234-241 |
| Asi, Abdul Bari | 238-240 |
| Gyan Chand | 367-371 |
| Hamid Ali Khan | Open Image |
The color (bird) of the hands of the Hunter (that is, the beloved) cannot fly because a great deal of blood constantly keeps dripping. So to speak, the flow of blood is a continuous string that is attached to the foot of the bird of the color of henna, and does not let it fly. A bird is used as a simile for color because color 'flies'/fades.
But the question is, this blood that keeps continuously dripping-- where does it come from? Perhaps he will have seen some bird slaughtered by a henna-adorned hand, from which blood too was dripping-- and on it he molded this verse. If such is the case, then here by prey and Hunter, lover and beloved are not intended-- and if they are not, then the verse is meaningless.
== Zamin, p. 361
The beautiful Hunter shed the blood of many birds. Because of this, the color of the henna [] of her hands could not 'fly'/fade. It keeps on remaining red from blood, since the color of henna cannot 'fly'. The meaning of this is that henna itself is like a captured bird. A is a bird on whose foot a cord would have been tied, and who would be unable to fly.
== Gyan Chand, p. 368
For background see S. R. Faruqi's choices . For more on Ghalib's unpublished verses, see the discussion in 4,8x . This verse is from a different, unpublished, formally identical ghazal, 358x , and is included for comparison. On the presentation of verses from unpublished ghazals like this one along with formally identical divan ghazals, see 145,5x .
On ordinary women's hands, the brilliant red designs made with henna lighten and eventually fade away. (For more on henna, see 18,4 .) But the beloved is no ordinary woman, of course. She's so constantly and effectively murderous that ever-fresh sprays of blood keep her hands perpetually patterned with henna-red. Thus the color doesn't have a chance to fade.
And since the verb for the fading of color is , literally 'to fly', the henna becomes a small winged bird-like creature in the 'hand' (or 'claw', or clutch) of a ruthless captor. Because it can't 'fly' away, it must obviously have a string on its leg. Gyan Chand vouches for the colloquial phrase . Without the wordplay of , could this verse even exist at all? For another verse about color and its 'taking flight', see 7,2 .
To turn blood into henna doesn't at all tax the powers of the beloved-- we see in 230,2 that she can easily turn a solid metal mirror into henna.
Zamin ties himself into a perverse knot in his commentary-- first seeking a 'natural poetry' origin for the verse, then rejecting his own proposed solution as 'meaningless'. Moral: ghazal verses not only don't need naturalistic, real-world sources, but most often can't even make any effective use of them them.
graphics/hennahand.jpg