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0007,
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{7,1}

ul;Tii ho ga))ii;N sab tadbiire;N kuchh nah davaa ne kaam kiyaa
dekhaa is biimaarii-e dil ne aa;xir kaam tamaam kiyaa

1) all plans/devices became reversed/overturned; medicine didn't do any work
2) you see? this sickness of heart finally finished [me/him] off

 

Notes:

tadbiir : 'Forethought, judgment; deliberation, counsel; opinion, advice; expedient, contrivance, plan, device; provision, management, arrangement, ordering, conduct, regulation; policy, prudence; skill'. (Platts p.314)

 

kaam : '(Indic) Action, act, deed, work, doing, handiwork, performance; work, labour, duty, task, job; business, occupation, employment, office, function; operation, undertaking, transaction, affair, matter, thing, concern, interest ; —a hard task, a difficult matter; a feat; object, end, purport; ... —service, use; serviceableness, fitness (for)'. (Platts p.804)

 

kaam : '(Sanskrit) Inclination, wish, desire, longing, inordinate desire; affection, love, passion; sexual passion; lust; love of pleasure; the object of desire or love'. (Platts p.804)

 

kaam : '(Persian) Desire, wish; design, intention; --the palate'. (Platts p.805)

 

tamaam karnaa : 'To perfect; to complete, finish, end, conclude, bring to a close (at, or by, - par ), put an end to (a business, or life, &c., e.g. uskaa kaam tamaam kiyaa )

*Platts Dictionary Online*

S. R. Faruqi:

He has also used this theme rather well in {74,3}; but in the present verse in both dekhaa and aa;xir there's such dramaticness, and in the whole verse a tone with two aspects, or rather three aspects, has come about so excellently that this verse is deservedly famous. If we read it in one tone, then the speaker of the verse is talking to himself. If we read it in another tone, then the speaker is someone else-- for example, a friend of that person whom passion finished off. If we read it in a third tone, then the speaker is a nurse or physician of the disease of passion. See {74,3}.

[See also {1806,1}.]

FWP:

SETS == MULTIVALENT WORDS; OPPOSITES; WORDPLAY
MOTIFS
NAMES
TERMS == DRAMATICNESS

Well, this early in the first divan we come to one of Mir's most famous ghazals. Please note that the index page for this ghazal will give you access to an anthology of translations. Moreover, this is also the first ghazal we've encountered in Mir's special, unusual 'Hindi meter', which is quite rare this early; most of his ghazals in this meter occurs in later divans. (For discussion, see *Urdu meter: a practical handbook*.) Because I've taught this ghazal for so many years and am so fond of it, I've decided to comment on all the verses myself; the ones SRF has not chosen or commented on are enclosed in square brackets.

The conspicuous wordplay (and meaning-play of course too) with kaam ought to be mentioned as well. In the first line, medicine did no 'work' . In the second line, the heart-sickness literally 'finished the work' (in English we have the equally idiomatic 'finished him off' to get the same idea across.) See the definitions above for details; the Persian sense of kaam as 'desire' can hardly help but hover over such wordplay as well. When medicine doesn't work, but a disease does 'work', no wonder all plans/devices have been 'reversed'. Only in retrospect do we realize how literally we are meant to take that first word of the verse.

About kaam : Of all the protean, multivalent words that Mir loves to use, kaam has to be near, if not at, the top of the charts. In addition to the usual senses that center on 'work' and 'erotic desire', there's an enjoyable third one: 'palate' or 'throat' (see the Persian definition above). It's not so common, but it's far from nonexistent. For Ghalibian examples of kaam , see G{22,6}. More of Mir's verses that play on kaam : {26,6}; {36,3}; {80,7}; {96,7}; {96,9} (with the 'throat' meaning too); {185,4}; {693,7}.