Verse 12x1821aapaayaa
G4
1
in the thought/anxiety of lamentation, I am, {so to speak / 'speaking'}, a circle/link from head to foot
2
every limb, like a chain/fetter, I found [to be] unanimous/'single-hearted' of voice/sound
is short for , to accommodate the meter.
'A limb, member, joint, organ (of the body)'.
'Of one heart or mind, unanimous; single-hearted, true, loyal, sincere'.
'Echo; sound, noise; voice, tone, cry, call'.
| References | |
|---|---|
| Arshi, Imtiyaz Ali | Ghazal# 5 |
| Raza, Kalidas Gupta | 319 |
| Nuskhah-e-Hamidiyah | 32-35 |
| Asi, Abdul Bari | 53-54 |
| Gyan Chand | 67-70 |
| Hamid Ali Khan | Open Image |
In the thought/anxiety of lamentation I have become, so to speak, a circle from head to foot. And like a chain/fetter, every one of my limbs is single-hearted and single-tongued to give voice.
== Asi, p. 54
He says that in order to draw forth laments, all my limbs have become single-hearted and single-tongued like the links of chains/fetters, and in this thought/anxiety my head has met my feet so that I have become a circle. The rule is that in a state of thought/anxiety, the head is placed on the knees.
== Zamin, p. 33
To be is to be agreed. All the links of a chain come together and make noise. All the limbs of my body too become 'single-hearted' and make a voice/sound []. As if [] I am, in the thought/anxiety of lamentation, from my head to my feet a link of a chain.
== Gyan Chand, p. 69
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 For more on Ghalib's unpublished verses, see the discussion in 4,8x .
This is consummately a verse of wordplay. There are body parts: 'head to foot', 'limb', 'limb', 'heart'; the final also contains another 'foot' []. There's also the expressive interplay of 'thought', 'lamentation' (which involves both thought and speaking), 'speaking', and 'voice'. On the subtleties of , see 5,1 . On the possibilities of expressions, see 11,1 .
The speaker is 'bent out of shape' (sorry, sorry) by melancholy; he is contorted, 'from head to foot' into a 'circle' or 'link'. In addition, each limb is like a link (of a chain or fetter). Thus his limbs clank and clash together, making a sound of lamentation. They are all unanimous in making the sound, and/or they all make exactly the same sound. Is it a 'voice', as if they were expressing a human lament, or is it just a 'sound', like a groan? The verse leaves it up to us to decide.
graphics/chainfetters.jpg