Ghazal 5, Verse 8x

{5,8x}

taa kujaa afsos-e garmiihaa-e .su;hbat ay ;xayaal
dil bah soz-e aatish-e daa;G-e tamannaa jal gayaa

1) to what extent regret/grief for the enthusiasms/'hotnesses' of companship/intercourse, oh Thought!
2) the heart, with the burning/inflammation of the fire of the wound of longing, burned

Notes:

soz : 'Burning; heat, inflammation; ardour, passion; affection; heart-burning, vexation'. (Platts p.698)

 

.su;hbat : 'Companionship, society, company; an assembly, meeting, association; a fair; discourse, conversation, intercourse; carnal intercourse, coition, cohabitation'. (Platts p.743)

 

jalnaa : 'To burn; to be burnt; to be on fire; to be kindled, be lighted; to be scorched, be singed; to be inflamed, to be consumed; to be touched, moved, or affected (with pity, &c.); to feel pain, sorrow, anguish, &c.; to burn or be consumed with love, or jealousy, or envy, &c.; to take amiss, be offended, be indignant; to get into a passion, be enraged, to rage'. (Platts p.387)

*Platts Dictionary Online*

Gyan Chand:

Oh imagination, how long will you keep remembering the liveliness of gatherings of the past, and feeling regret? The fire of the wound of unfulfilled longings has burnt up the heart. (110)

FWP:

SETS == EXCLAMATION; KAHAN

For background see S. R. Faruqi's choices.

The inshaa))iyah first line, with its interrogatory and exclamatory force, opens up a brilliant series of possible connections to the second line. And taa kujaa -- the Persian equivalent of kahaa;N tak -- is the key to its versatile possibilities. Here are some:

=oh Thought, how powerful is the regret over past gatherings-- it caused the heart to burn up with longing!

=oh Thought, how powerful is even the memory of those 'hotnesses' of intimacy-- it caused the heart to catch fire and burn up with longing!

=oh Thought, how long will you keep tormenting yourself with regret-filled memories? Look-- now you've caused the heart to burn up!

=oh Thought, how valuable are those old memories anyway? All they do is fill the heart with vexation [soz] and cause it to 'burn' [jalnaa] with frustration, sorrow and rage.

=oh Thought, you won't be able to keep tormenting yourself with passionate memories any more, because the heart that felt them has now burned up

And why the address to 'Thought'? Is Thought a sympathetic bystander, watching the drama of high passion unfold but helpless to prevent it? Or is the speaker reproaching Thought for fostering, or even creating, the deadly 'regret/grief' that has burned out the heart? Or perhaps after the heart and the passions have burnt up, Thought will be all that's left.

 

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