Verse 41821ardar-o-diivaar


G9

In this meter the next-to-last long syllable may be replaced by two shorts.


1
to what (an) extent there has occurred abundance/cheapness of the wine of glory/appearance?!
2
that in your lane is intoxicated, every door and wall

'Cheapness; abundance, plenty; good harvest'.

References
Arshi, Imtiyaz Ali Ghazal# 58
Raza, Kalidas Gupta 330-31
Nuskhah-e-Hamidiyah 101-102
Hamid Ali Khan Open Image

The first line can be, thanks to a variant form of the 'kya effect', either a question or an exclamation of amazement. Nazm and Bekhud Dihlavi see the verse as a taunt or reproach to the beloved, who is intimately addressed in the form. The sense of as 'cheapness' (see the definition above) works for this reading. The beloved's proper role is to be difficult of access, not to freely show herself to all and sundry. The proof that she is easily visible is that all the walls and doors in her lane are intoxicated and reeling with her splendor. She shouldn't be providing her radiance, like cheap and abundant wine, to all comers. But also means 'abundance, plenty, a good harvest'. Perhaps the beloved's radiance penetrates the street even without her showing herself in any cheapening or undesirable manner. How can she help it if the very air in her vicinity, the very walls and doors in her street, are electrified by her presence? In fact it's a tribute to the irresistible, pervasive power of her beauty. As Bekhud Mohani observes, however, it's also quite possible that the lover himself is the one who's intoxicated, rather than the walls and doors. Thus as his head reels, he sees the doors and walls as swaying, and thinks of them as reeling and staggering with drunkenness. And of course, the possibilities aren't mutually exclusive either. graphics/streetjaisalmer.jpg graphics/intoxication.jpg