===
1176,
6
===

 

{1176,6}

kuuchah har yak jaa-e dilkash ((aalam-e ;xaakii me;N hai
par kahii;N lagtaa nahii;N jii haa))e mai;N dil duu;N kahaa;N

1) every single street is a heart-attracting place, in the earthly/'dusty' world
2) but my inner-self does not love/'attach' anywhere-- alas, where/how would I give my heart?!

 

Notes:

S. R. Faruqi:

The theme of this verse is very fresh. Fundamentally, we can call it a verse of alienation. There's a feeling of the beauty of the world, but still the speaker's heart doesn't attach itself to it. This mood is not 'ennui', nor is it 'anomie'. The speaker himself wants to attach his heart to the world, but his temperament doesn't accept it. And how spirit-destroying such a state will be-- when one would feel the value and worth of something, but still the heart would not be attracted to it, there would be no interest in it!

In haa))e mai;N dil duu;N kahaa;N there's also a mood of longing-- oh, if only such a thing would have become possible! In the speaker's temperament there's a strange kind of convolutedness. He cannot be the commonplace lover in the ghazal, but such people are not seen in the everyday world either.

He hasn't made clear why his mind has this mood. This ambiguity has created an interesting tension, because there are many possibilities. But no possibility is entirely satisfactory. It's possible that all the possibilities might be present at the same time. This is the cause of the tension of the verse and the convolutedness in the speaker's personality.

No doubt he has given us a slight hint in the phrase ((aalam-e ;xaakii , but that itself is full of possibilities. (1) The speaker is not an inhabitant of that 'earthly world'; he has ended up here from some other world (for example, the 'world of light'). (2) The speaker considers the 'earthly world' to be unreal; thus he's not attracted to it. (3) The speaker is in search of some other thing or some other person. (4) One common possibility is that the speaker is bound by some mysterious power, or imprisoned in some enchantment [:tilism], and is fated to keep wandering from street to street.

Despite all these possible causes, the situation does not become fully revealed. The mood of the verse depends on its meaning. Indeed, a reading of lower rank is also possible: that the speaker is a lover afflicted by separation, and without the beloved his inner-self doesn't attach itself anywhere. From the fifth divan [{1687,3}]:

kisuu se dil nahii;N miltaa hai yaa rab
hu))aa thaa kis gha;Rii un se judaa mai;N

[my heart doesn't meet with anyone, oh Lord
at what hour did I become separated from her/them?]

But this reading doesn't give full attention to all the words of the present verse. One meaning of jii lagnaa is also 'to become a lover'. In this regard, another reading is that the speaker deliberately wants to become a lover of someone, but his longing is not fulfilled. And it's a strange mental mood, that the mind is ready, but the heart is not ready.

Such a situation usually occurs in cases where in a cultural or religious way something would be improper, but in a rational way there would be nothing wrong with it. It sometimes happens that in a mental or rational way we don't consider something improper, but because of the opposition of cultural or religious feelings we don't do that thing. Here, this situation has been presented with regard to the attachment of the heart, which is a new idea.

With regard to the wordplay of dilkash , the opposition of lagtaa nahii;N jii and dil duu;N kahaa;N is also fine. The 'commonality' of kuuchah , jaa-e dilkash , ((aalam is also superb.

FWP:

SETS
MOTIFS
NAMES
TERMS == WORDPLAY

I have nothing special to add.