===
1056,
6
===
 

{1056,6}

yak-jahaa;N mihr-o-vafaa kii jins thii mere kane
lekin us ko pher hii laayaa jahaa;N mai;N le gayaa

1) the property/wealth of a whole-worldful of affection and faithfulness was in my possession
2) but I only/emphatically brought it back to from where I had taken it away

 

Notes:

mihr : 'Love, affection, friendship, kindness, favour; mercy, pity, sympathy, feeling; —prosperity'. (Platts p.1099)

 

kane : 'By the side (of, - ke ), near (to), in proximity (to), close (by); to; with, in the possession (of); at; at the house (of)'. (Platts p.857)

*Platts Dictionary Online*

S. R. Faruqi:

yak-jahaa;N = very large, very much
kane = in the possession of

The Persianness of yak-jahaa;N is worthy of note. Between the jahaa;N in the second line and the jahaa;N in the first line is a relationship of ambiguity. The affinity of 'property, wealth' with 'to bring back' is very fine. If a merchant's wares wouldn't sell, and he would bring them back, that too is called pher laanaa .

Mir himself has written, in his shikaar-naamah-e duvvum ,

javaahir to kyaa kyaa dikhaayaa gayaa
;xariidaar lekin nah paayaa gayaa
ma:taa((-e su;xan pher le kar chalo
bahut lakhna))uu me;N rahe ghar chalo

[what-all jewels were displayed!
but a buyer was not found
take the property of speech/poetry back and go
you've been long enough in Lucknow-- go home]

The theme of the present verse, with the same idiom, he has also composed in the second divan [{827,4}]:

iqliim-e ;husn se ham dil pher le chale hai;N
kyaa karye yaa;N nahii;N hai jins-e vafaa kii ;xvaahish

[from the region of beauty we've come, bringing back the heart
what can be done? here there's not a longing for the wares of faithfulness]

But in the present verse there's mood of melancholy dignity, and also a suggestion of continuing effort and endeavor.

FWP:

SETS
MOTIFS == COMMERCE
NAMES
TERMS == AMBIGUITY

About Persianized yak constructions: for detailed discussion, see {452,2}.

Here's another instance where SRF finds a 'mood of melancholy dignity' [alamiyaatii vaqaar kii kaifiyat] to be integral to the verse. I agree that it's a plausible and powerful reading, but I still can't see that it's built-in. I could also imagine an impatient, annoyed tone, the voice of a salesman who has found himself foolishly lugging around the wrong products in the wrong neighborhood, and has had to return them, with a few well-chosen remarks to his supplier. That would make the verse feel wry and witty.

Along these lines there's also the question of the nature of this supplier. We are left to guess where the speaker got his merchandise from, and then brought it back to. God? The unseen realm? Passion? His own heart? Some kind of a middleman or broker, a dallaal ? A warehouse or 'godown'? The commercial imagery, and the verse's conspicuous refusal to tell us anything at all about this source, invite all sorts of speculation, and thus various different readings and tones. For more on this question of 'tone' or 'mood', see {724,2}.