Verse 9after 1847iirbhii thaa
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
we were standing ready to die-- if she didn't come near, then so be it
2 a
after all, in that mischievous one's quiver there was some [kind of] arrow too!
2 b
after all, in that mischievous one's quiver was there even any arrow?
| References | |
|---|---|
| Arshi, Imtiyaz Ali | Ghazal# 41 |
| Raza, Kalidas Gupta | 397 |
| Hamid Ali Khan | Open Image |
The late Hakim Razi ud-Din Khan was an extremely close friend of Mirza's. He didn't care for mangoes. One day he was seated in the verandah of Mirza's house, and Mirza was there as well. A donkey-driver passed through the lane with his donkey. Some mango-skins were lying there; the donkey took a sniff, then left them. The Hakim Sahib said, 'Look-- a mango is such that even a donkey [] doesn't eat it!' Mirza said, 'Without a doubt, a donkey doesn't eat it.'
==Urdu text: Yadgar-e Ghalib , p. 70
That is, if she didn't come near, then she should at least have shot an arrow from afar! (36)
== Nazm page 36
He says, we had come and stood before her to sacrifice our life. If she considered it contrary to her dignity to come near us, then at least she should have shot an arrow from afar! The meaning is that she should definitely have made even a worthless lover like us the prey of her airs and graces. (71)
If this indifference to life-sacrificers is not mischievousness, then what is it? (105)
This one is a classic, and plays perfectly on the two meanings of , 'too' and 'even'. Ghalib was keenly aware of the importance of small but powerful particles like , as Hali's anecdote above amusingly shows.
On the first reading (2a), if the beloved didn't come near the lover, that was all right, because after all she had one or another, 'some' [kind of] [] arrow 'too' in her quiver, and thus could shoot him-- or 'them'-- from afar. But because she is mischievous, she might or might not actually loose the arrow on her helpless prey. This is the meaning the commentators adopt.
On the second reading (2b), the lover has no illusions about the radical nature of the beloved's mischievousness-- did she 'even' bother to bring any arrows in her quiver, or was that too much trouble? This reading rests on the possibility of a yes-or-no question with the introductory colloquially omitted; see the next verse, 36,10 , for an irrefutable example of the same usage.)
For a thematically very similar verse in which is not made to do such tricks, but only means 'even', see 112,9 . Then for a verse in which means only 'also', see the one after it, 112,10 .
For discussion of , see 9,4 .
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