Verse 11821iirnahii;N


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
no contrivance/skill is a forbidder of desert-{wandering / 'going round'}
2
a single/particular/unique/excellent circle/'round' is on/in my feet, not a chain

'Forethought, judgment; deliberation, counsel; opinion, advice; expedient, contrivance, plan, device; provision, management, arrangement, ordering, conduct, regulation; policy, prudence; skill'.
'A circle, a ring; circumference; a circular road or course; a circular position; ... revolving in a circle, revolution, whirl; round, circuit; circumambulation; ... anything revolving in a circle'.

References
Arshi, Imtiyaz Ali Ghazal# 89
Raza, Kalidas Gupta 359
Nuskhah-e-Hamidiyah 113-114
Asi, Abdul Bari 164
Gyan Chand 262
Hamid Ali Khan Open Image

Consider 1,5 , which is such a similar verse: in that one too, the first line asserts a general fact-- the lover's incorrigible restlessness even when physically chained up-- and the second line makes a related word/meaning play. In {1,5} the basis is fire: the speaker is 'hot-footed' with restlessness, so that each link of his chain is a burnt hair. In the present verse, the basis is sheer roundness: there's no way to prevent the speaker from wandering or, literally, 'going round' in the desert. Because the chain on his feet, composed of round links that should fetter him, is really nothing but a , a 'circle' or 'round' (as in 'making the rounds'). But of course, it's too, with all the multivalent possibilities, dismissive or laudatory or particularizing, of that . Both these verses are excellent, and very similar, examples of vintage Ghalibian wordplay. There's nothing much else going on in them except a classic ghazal theme (almost identical in both verses) expressed in carefully chosen words that add conceptual richness. But in a two-line verse, isn't such wordplay enough? The lines have a strong and multivalent connection that is a great source of pleasure to the mind, the eye, and (if they're recited) to the ear as well. graphics/whirlwind.jpg