===
1421,
9
===

 

{1421,9}

nah ho go junuu;N miir-jii ko par un kii
:tabii((at hai aashuftah va;hshat se ab tak

1) although Mir-ji might not be mad-- but/still his
2) temperament is disordered with wildness/solitude/dread, up to now

 

Notes:

junuun : 'A state of possession by a jinn , demoniacal possession; loss of reason, madness, insanity, frenzy'. (Platts p.393)

 

aashuftah : 'Distracted, disturbed, distressed; disordered; uneasy, wretched, miserable'. (Platts p.57)

 

va;hshat : 'A desert, solitude, dreary place; —loneliness, solitariness, dreariness; —sadness, grief, care; —wildness, fierceness, ferocity, savageness; barbarity, barbarism; —timidity, fear, fright, dread, terror, horror; —distraction, madness'. (Platts p.1183)

S. R. Faruqi:

The closing-verse has been included for the completeness of the ghazal. But it has the excellence that the subtle differences there are among junuun , aashuftah , va;hshat have been kept in mind. For junuun means 'madness', and also means intense emotion and feeling-- that is, passion. By va;hshat is meant that mood when a person runs far away from everything-- that is, he is made agitated/anxious by everything, even including himself. By aashuftagii is meant for the temperament to be restless, for the personality to be disordered.

FWP:

SETS == NEIGHBORS
MOTIFS == MADNESS
NAMES
TERMS

This is one of Mir's trademark 'neighbors' verses, in which some ordinary person, outside the wild universe of crazed lovers, is commenting, usually with concern and sorrow, on Mir's condition. The allusion to 'Mir-ji' too makes it clear that the speaker is not 'Mir' himself (since he wouldn't refer to himself that way), nor is it any close friend (who would not address him so respectfully).

Plainly the speaker is concerned, and is trying judiciously to frame the most suitable description of Mir's mental condition. Thus, as SRF notes, we're invited to consider the mutual relationships of the three words junuun , aashuftah , va;hshat -- they have a great deal in common (see the definitions above), but are not at all identical. In particular, va;hshat has a sometimes paradoxical set of meanings (ranging from 'fierceness, ferocity' to 'fear, fright') that are often used to describe wild animals, and can thus also wrap up the mad lover's whole condition-- including, finally, 'madness' itself.

By urging such careful distinctions, is the neighbor trying to provide the best possible basis for a medical diagnosis? Or is he trying to protect Mir from the more serious accusation of madness? All we can tell from that 'Mir-ji' is that the speaker seems to care about Mir's condition, and to be worried about it. Does the 'up to now' suggest a lingering hope, and the possibility of improvement in the future?