===
1590,
2
===
 

{1590,2}

bar-afro;xtah ru;x hai us kaa kis ;xuubii se mastii me;N
pii ke sharaab shiguftah hu))aa hai us nau gul pah bahaar hai aaj

1) she has a radiant/kindled face-- with what excellence, in intoxication
2) having drunk wine, she has become blooming; upon that new rose is springtime, today

 

Notes:

bar-afrokhtah : 'Lighted up, kindled, set on fire, inflamed.'. (Platts p.144)

 

bahaar : 'Spring, prime, bloom, flourishing state; beauty, glory, splendour, elegance; beautiful scene or prospect, fine landscape; charm, delight, enjoyment, the pleasures of sense, taste, or culture'. (Platts p.178)

*Platts Dictionary Online*

S. R. Faruqi:

buraa furo;xtah = bursting into flame, radiant

It's impossible for this verse of Ghalib's not to come to mind:

G{233,14}.

Ghalib's metaphor is more complex, and his image more multifaceted. But the honor of primacy belongs to Mir. In the fifth divan itself, Mir has used this image with more adornment:

{1722,1}.

In the present verse the phrase bar-aafro;xtah is very excellent, because in it is an image of bursting into flame and flaring like fire. In 'bursting into flame' there's an erotic [jinsii] suggestion that is strengthened by the word 'intoxication', because the awakening of sexual desire is also called 'intoxication'. In kis ;xuubii se too there are two meanings. (1) With what excellence; that is, with what beauty her face is flaring up; and (2) with how much excellence; that is, in how excellent a manner, how easily.

In 'new rose' the suggestion of spring is inherently present; thus the coming of spring upon her gives rise to the interpretation that spring has come to the spring of her beauty, and this too is the theme of the verse.

'Rose' can mean 'spark' and 'fire' as well; in this regard there's wordplay [ri((aayat] between buraa furo;xtah and nau gul . And gul is used as a simile for wine-flagon and wine-glass; in this respect there's an affinity between 'wine' and nau gul . He's composed a very fine verse.

[See also {574,4}; {1719,1}.]

FWP:

SETS
MOTIFS == SPRINGTIME; WINE
NAMES
TERMS

This ghazal is the second of a set of two about which SRF makes special claims for an over-all 'musical' effect; see {1589,1} for his discussion.

The imagery stirs in together several kinds of radiant redness: fire, a flushed and intoxicated face, red wine, a red rose, a rose-filled spring garden. They, and links among them, are among the basic materials of the ghazal world, and everybody uses them and links them together in one way or another. In this verse, the metaphors form an endless feedback loop. Is the verse about a person, or a rose? Is it about beauty, or intoxication, or springtime? Is it about a blazing fire, or flushed cheeks?

SRF requires, in his discussion of the 'musical' effect he claims for this ghazal, that all the verses be read together swiftly and flowingly. So presumably we'll need to intuitively amalgamate the metaphoric domains, on the fly, without stopping to analyze or rethink anything. That makes sense; it's not at all an obscure or impenetrable verse.