This is another of Ghalib's 'meaning machine' verses. The commentators might be thought to be unhelpful, since as usual each is content with only one reading, like the blind men describing the elephant. But in fact as a group they prove very useful, since their views can be juxtaposed or amalgamated to show the range of possible readings. Many of the same effects are present in 32,1 , including use of the same multivalent phrase . The present verse is (and {32,1} might be) spoken after the lover's death, which adds to the punch of the 'so what'-- it expresses despair, futility, an indifference to life that has now found its only possible culmination. But the present verse is spoken by an anonymous, apparently sympathetic friend, a character frequently evoked in the closing-verse because of the helpful presence of the pen-name . It seems that this one expression, is all the lover used to say, no matter what the circumstances, and is all the friend remembers him by. (On the versatility of , see 30,1 .) If you can choose only one phrase to be remembered by, what a great choice! It can express curiosity (2c), or longing (2b), and/or despair (2a). How better to end a ghazal that begins with the astonishing 32,1 ? Compare Mir 's verse of similar speculation: M 956,4 . graphics/questionmark.jpg