===
1742,
2
===
 

{1742,2}

haath liye aa))iinah tujh ko ;hairat hai ra((naa))ii kii
hai bhii zamaanah hii aisaa har ko))ii giriftaarii me;N hai

1) having taken a mirror in hand, you are amazed/stupefied by loveliness/grace
2) well, only/emphatically the era/age/world is such-- everyone is in captivity/bondage!

 

Notes:

;hairat : 'Perturbation and stupor (of mind), astonishment, amazement, consternation'. (Platts p.483)

 

ra((naa))ii : 'Gracefulness of motion, graceful gait; grace, loveliness, beauty'. (Platts p.595)

*Platts Dictionary Online*

S. R. Faruqi:

The following themes are so common-- or rather, shopworn-- that if Andalib Shadani or Tabataba'i or Hali had poured out scorn on them, then it would not have been particularly wrong:

(1) The beloved is beautiful to such an extent that she looks at herself in the mirror and is astonished (there's also wordplay between the mirror and astonishment, because astonishment is a quality of the mirror).

(2) The age is extremely unfavorable/hostile and unacquainted with justice. Good people too have had an evil time come upon them-- so what will be the condition of ordinary people?

Leaving aside the fact that the 'theme-creating' poet can also bring out new ideas from such themes, perhaps the above-mentioned elders were not aware of this verse of Mir's; otherwise, they would have changed their views about these themes.

Here, one theme, (1), has been presented as a proof of another theme, (2). The era/age/world has become so wretched that every person is in one or another kind of bondage. The bondage of sorrow and toil, the bondage of passion, the bondage of an unjust ruler, the bondage of poverty, and so on.

And if there is a beloved, then she is in the bondage of her own beauty. That is, (1) she is amazed/stupefied by her own beauty, and because of this amazement she is speechless and silent, absorbed in the mirror, as though she's somehow incapable of movement. And if she's not free to move around, then she'll certainly be called a captive. (2) She has fallen in love with herself. First, in this way she is a captive of her own heart. Her heart has become 'attached'-- that is, she's in bondage to herself. She cannot tear her heart away and flee. And second, she is a prisoner of passion. Now passion can involve her in anything.

In this same ghazal Mir has composed one more verse about the beloved's looking in the mirror, from which Ghalib benefitted [{1742,4}]:

.suurate;N bigrii;N kitnii kyuu;N nah us ko tavajjuh kab hai vuh
saamne rakkhe aa))iinah ma.sruuf :tara;h-daarii me;N hai

[no matter how many faces/forms have been spoiled-- when does she pay attention? she
having put a mirror before her, is absorbed in elegance/style]

In the first line, the words of the jealous-hearted lover are fine. But Ghalib, having taken the theme from Mir, has included in it universal 'drama', and the constantly changing glories of primeval beauty:

G{98,9}.

FWP:

SETS == BHI
MOTIFS == BONDAGE; MIRROR
NAMES
TERMS

Here is another verse in which bhii is used not to mean 'even' or 'also', but to add emphasis in a general way.