Verse 5x1812aakahu;N
G3
1
the theme of union did not come to hand-- but/perhaps
2
now I would call it the flown-away bird of the color of henna
'To come to hand, to reach, be received; to come into the possession, or power (of)'.
'Flown, taken wing'.
| References | |
|---|---|
| Arshi, Imtiyaz Ali | Ghazal# 86 |
| Raza, Kalidas Gupta | 134-36 |
| Nuskhah-e-Hamidiyah | 143-144 |
| Asi, Abdul Bari | 163 |
| Gyan Chand | 260-261 |
| Hamid Ali Khan | Open Image |
The theme of union did not come to hand, such that I would be able to give for it a simile of something, and would be able to tell what union is. But indeed, it can be called the flown-away bird of the color of henna, for that too has no existence.
== Asi, p. 163
Because the flown-away color of henna too does not come to hand. The cause of similitude is movement.
== Zamin, p. 232
The color of henna fades/'flies away' after some time. Ghalib has given for this the simile of a flown-away bird. Union with the beloved could not be vouchsafed to me. It is like a bird that would have escaped/flown from the hand-- the bird of the color of henna, that in reality flies off from the hand.
== Gyan Chand, p. 260
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 For more on Ghalib's unpublished verses, see the discussion in 4,8x .
Not only was 'union' with the beloved unavailable-- even the , the ' theme ', of union wasn't available. It didn't 'come to hand' in the sense that a suitable way of describing it in a verse had not been thought of-- and also in the way that an escaped bird does not 'come to hand'. But now-- or 'perhaps' now-- the poet has decided how to 'capture' that bird in a verse.
For what bird could be more 'flown away', more irretrievably lost, than the 'bird' of the color of henna? (On henna, see 18,4 .) It's a bird that fades away gradually into complete, irreversible nonexistence-- like even the lover's hopes (not to speak of his chances) for 'union' with the beloved.
Compare 220,4x , which equips the 'bird of henna' with a nest.
This particular henna-bird looks dark because the henna has just been applied. It won't stay this way for long.
graphics/hennabird.jpg