S. R. Faruqi:

A better over-all introduction to passion, and a more trimly constructed second line, one would search for in vain. But there's still more in the verse. In the first line nisbat-e ((ishqii is extremely enjoyable; then there's also the ambiguity that the one who 'comes every day' can be the beloved, or else can be the lover. That is, it's not necessary that the lover would daily come to the beloved's place, or that the beloved herself would come daily to meet the lover.

In the second line, ((umr bhar ek mulaaqaat chalii jaanaa has several meanings:

(1) He again and again repeats in his mind that one meeting, and brings his imagination to bear on it.

(2) Just one meeting is enough; its pleasure and fulfilledness last for the rest of his life.

(3) No doubt it was only one meeting, but it is such wealth that in a whole lifetime it is not fully expended-- with every day the memory of it, its pleasure, slowly dims; but nevertheless enough remains so that he can get through the day without losing control of his heart and doing something reckless.

(4) The interval of a single meeting spreads over a whole lifetime; that is, if once he would meet her then it's as if he keeps on meeting her for his whole lifetime.

Along with 'mood' there's also 'tumult-arousingness', and with regard to meaning too the verse is of no mean rank.

Hasrat Mohani with great effort composed a ghazal 'on' this ghazal that at one time became very famous. One rhyme that Mir didn't versify, in Hasrat's ghazal is well versified. Otherwise, the rest of his ghazal can't at all be compared to Mir's-- although Mir's ghazal itself is not among his best ones. Hasrat Mohani:

us sitam-gar ko sitam-gar nahii;N kahte bantaa
sa((ii-e taaviil-e ;xayaalaat chalii jaatii hai

[it's no use to call that tyrant a 'tyrant'
the attempt at interpretation of thoughts moves along/away]

In Hasrat's verse is the superb theme 'the interpretation of thoughts'-- that the beloved's behavior is such that it proves her to be a tyrant, but the lover's heart doesn't want to declare the beloved a tyrant (and in this way pour cold water on his own hopes and expectations). Thus he is absorbed in interpreting his thoughts (not realities); that is, the thoughts (suspicions) about the beloved that are in his heart-- he wants to bring out their meaning in such a way that those suspicions would prove to be happy anticipations. In the poetry of Hasrat Mohani and his contemporaries such subtle points are few and far between.

Hazrat Shah Fazl ul-Rahman Sahib Ganj Moradabadi was once giving 'attention' [tavajjuh] to some of his disciples, and he commanded, 'Insha'allah, this will be enough for a whole lifetime'. Thus one of his disciples, Janab Abad Ali, said that to him too had been vouchsafed the good fortune of receiving just this kind of 'attention', and in truth its effects lasted his whole life. In his last days especially, the mysteries and effects of this 'attention' were extraordinarily apparent.

Mir's belief in Sufistic methods and practices, and in the powers of the 'people of God', was most firmly established. It's possible that this verse might be about just such 'attentions'. The word nisbat , which is also used by Sufis, in this respect bears a special interest.

A final point is that between aane and chalii jaatii hai there's the subtle connection of a zila.

FWP:

SETS == EK
MOTIFS
NAMES
TERMS == GHAZAL 'ON' A GHAZAL; MOOD; TUMULT-AROUSINGNESS

Oh, the exquisiteness of chalaa jaanaa ! It can mean (see the definition above) 'to go away, to depart' and 'to continue, to last', and what could be more suitable for the kind of work Mir makes it do? The latter possibility, 'to continue, to last', SRF has explicated at length as the possibility of the one (real? mystical?) meeting that lasts-- or seems through its lingering effects to last-- a whole lifetime.

But I also love the other possibility, 'to go away, to depart'. There might in fact be no meeting at all. It might be that the beloved constantly promises to meet the lover, but constantly breaks her promises, so that the prospect of that ever-alluring but ever-elusive meeting keeps receding, 'going away, departing', into the future. It moves right along ahead of the poor lover like the Biblical pillar of fire; or, to chose a more cynical example, like the carrot dangled from a rod that is used to motivate a stubborn donkey. Or perhaps like a will-o'-the-wisp, which might be the best simile, since it's so haphazard.

And what kind of a meeting is it, was it, would it be? Well, thanks to the multivalence of that ek , it would be a 'single' one, or a 'particular' one, or a 'unique' one, or an 'excellent' one. The lover has many solitary hours in which to tease out these possibilities and no doubt many others as well. He has a whole lifetime full of such (outwardly) solitary hours-- but then, how long can a lover really expect to live?