S. R. Faruqi:

The wordplay is obvious: furo;G , sham((a , jalvah , diidah . In the verse there's the kind of 'delicacy of thought' that people usually assign to Ghalib. But rather than that, both these verses,

{95,6}

and the present verse, are good examples of the style that is called 'thought-binding' [;xayaal-bandii]. Shah Nasir popularized this style, then Nasikh and Ghalib took it to new heights. But as is clear from these verses, Mir too was fully a master of 'thought-binding'.

Before the beauty of the beloved, the radiance of the candle had fallen into eclipse. Therefore its falling into eclipse was pricking like a dust-grain in the eye of the Moth. Or else the radiance of the candle had become so pallid that it seemed to be foggy and obscured by dust; and this dust (that is, the deficiency in the beauty of the candle) was pricking in the eyes of the Moth the way a grain of dust pricks the eyes. Or else the eclipse of the beauty of the candle was a cause of sorrow to the Moth, and was like dust in his eye.

The pleasure is that if the eye would fill up with dust then nothing is visible-- thus the Moth remained deprived of the sight of the glory/appearance of the beloved, and it was unable to enjoy even the sight of the candle.

FWP:

SETS
MOTIFS == CANDLE; EYE; GATHERINGS; GAZE; JALVAH
NAMES == MOTH
TERMS == 'DELICACY OF THOUGHT'; 'THOUGHT-BINDING'; WORDPLAY

The idea of 'dust' in the eye offers a variety of possible meanings, all relevant: 1) the literal: physical dust in one's eye, so that the vision is obscured; 2) grief or vexation; 3) something contemptible or vile ('impurity, foulness'). This multivalence in the use of ;Gubaar (see the definition above) is what energizes the verse.

SRF finds this verse to be an excellent example of 'delicacy of thought' and 'thought-bindingness'-- the kind of thing that's usually associated with Ghalib. But delicacy or subtlety or refinement of thought is only a means to an end, and that end is the enjoyment felt by the reader. The present verse offers a moderate, adequate amount of such enjoyment, administered in a single jolt (the 'dust in the eye' of the Moth).

For a brilliant, overflowing amount, administered in repeated and cumulative doses, here's a verse of Ghalib's that similarly deals with tiny but emblematic worlds. Where Mir gives us the dust in the Moth's eye, Ghalib gives us the lamp-display in the bedchamber of the Moth's heart:

G{81,3}

The baroque, over-the-top quality of Ghalib's verse is even more conspicuous than that of the present verse. But its wild, free, intellectual play is an endless and un-pin-downable delight.