Verse 71821ardar-o-diivaar
G9
In this meter the next-to-last long syllable may be replaced by two shorts.
1
when she came and stayed in my neighboring/'shade-sharer' [house], then through shade/shelter/protection
2
doors and walls became devoted to doors and walls
'Shadow, shade; shelter, protection'.
'Sacrifice; consecration, devotion; devoting oneself (to save another); a thing devoted'.
| References | |
|---|---|
| Arshi, Imtiyaz Ali | Ghazal# 58 |
| Raza, Kalidas Gupta | 330-31 |
| Nuskhah-e-Hamidiyah | 101-102 |
| Hamid Ali Khan | Open Image |
That is, the shade of my doors and walls sacrificed itself [] for her doors and walls. (53)
== Nazm page 53
The shadow of one house often advances and reaches to another house; from this, the idea was born. (57)
He says, when she came and settled in my neighborhood, then the shadow of my doors and walls began to sacrifice itself for her doors and walls. (100)
What a fine instance it is of ' elegance in assigning a cause '! (136)
When the beloved came to stay next door, not only did the speaker almost die of joy, but the very doors and walls of his house adored (sorry, I couldn't help it) the doors and walls of her house. Why did they adore them? On one reading of the crucial phrase , it was because they fell under the spell of the exquisitely cool and sensual shade (and its metaphorical extensions, shelter and protection) that the newcomers provided to the speaker's house, which had been for so long burning with passion.
And how did the doors and walls show their adoration? On another (and even more piquant) reading of , they did so by devotedly providing shade to the newcomers, self-sacrificingly (see the definition ofabove) interposing themselves between the cruel sun and the beloved's house.
As Josh observes, this verse is an example of ' elegance in assigning a cause '. The observed fact that the shadow of one house often extends over the house next door has now been given a far more romantic cause than a mere explanation of planes and angles.
There's also some conspicuous wordplay: , 'neighbor' or, literally, 'shade-sharer', is echoed in , 'shade'. And look at that second line: is made up of a mere handful of consonants and vowel sounds, combined and recombined to create almost the effect of a drum-beat.
Note for grammar fans: is a colloquially abbreviated form of ('having come, remained'). This kind of deletion is well established, nowadays as well as in Ghalib's time. More examples: 51,5x ; 60,8 ; 68,6x ; 172,1 (an intriguingly optional case, noted by Faruqi as well).
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