Ghazal 16, Verse 1

{16,1}*

ek ek qa:tre kaa mujhe denaa pa;Raa ;hisaab
;xuun-e jigar vadii((at-e mizhgaan-e yaar thaa

1) of every single drop, I was compelled to give an account
2) the blood of the liver was a trust from/for/'of' the eyelashes of the beloved

Notes:

vadii((at : 'A deposit, trust, whatever is committed to another's charge'. (Platts p.1185)

Hali:

That is to say, blood keeps flowing from the eyes to such an extent, as if all the blood in the liver were a trust from the eyes of the beloved, and for this reason I will have to give an account of every drop of it-- the way one has to give an account of a trust.

==Urdu text: Yadgar-e Ghalib, pp. 139-40

Nazm:

;hisaab denaa pa;Raa -- that is, I was forced to cause it to flow from the eyes, as if the blood of the liver were a trust from her. (17)

== Nazm page 17

Josh:

Thus the special trait of the beloved's eyelashes is that their arrows wounded the liver, and told it to yield up its trust. (71)

Arshi:

Compare {113,3}. (221)

FWP:

SETS == IZAFAT
COMMERCE: {3,3}
JIGAR: {2,1}

IZAFAT verses: {3,11x}; {4,9x}; {7,3}; {9,8x}, an odd case; {11,5x}; {13,7}; {15,11}**; {16,1}***; {16,2}; {18,1}; {18,5}*; {24,1}*; {24,5}; {25,9}; {33,2}*; {38,5}; {39,2}; {39,3}; {40,4x}; {41,2}; {49,6}; {49,10}; {53,4}; {56,2}; {57,6}; {61,7}; {64,8x}; {67,4x}; {68,6x}; {69,3x}; {71,3}*; {73,4x}; {74,3x}; {75,6}*; {75,7}; {77,2}; {79,5x}; {80,2}; {81,8x}; {81,10x}; {81,13x}; {90,4}; {91,14x}; {93,1}; {94,2}*; {96,5}; {98,5}*; {100,5}; {101,5}*; {112,8}; {117,5x}; {119,3}; {123,1}; {135,1}; {141,3}; {142,4x}; {145,8x}; {145,9x}; {151,3}; {152,4}; {158,3}; {164,12}; {169,3}; {172,5x}; {183,4}*; {196,4}; {202,3}; {206,2}; {211,2}; {220,2}; {223,1}*; {228,3}; {228,6}; {230,2} // {287x,6}*; {319x,7}; {321x,8}*; {385x,4}**; {389x,5}; {398x,1}

ABOUT the i.zaafat construction: The creatively complex use of the i.zaafat construction is one of Ghalib's favorite devices. Another example occurs in the next verse, {16,2}; see also {18,5}; {33,2} (where the range of possibilities is explained more carefully); {38,5}, {39,3}, {49,10}, and many others, such as those listed above. The i.zaafat form is used equationally in {173,8}. Just for interest, consider also {56,2}, in which the poet uses four i.zaafat forms in a row and is criticized for it by the commentators. (In {77,2} he uses five i.zaafat forms in one line, but they aren't all in a row, so nobody complains.) And then there's {71,3}, in which two (optional) i.zaafat forms are exploited to the fullest, to make one of the most radically multivalent verses in the world.

On the conspicuous ambiguity of, for example, ;xayaal-e ma;hbuub as both 'the beloved's thought' and 'the thought of the beloved', see {41,6}. For a grammatical analysis of the i.zaafat , see C. M. Naim's account.

The divan version of this ghazal has no opening-verse; in the form in which it was originally composed, {16,6x} was its opening-verse, and {16,7x} was a second opening-verse.

Is the vadii((at or trust one given by the beloved's eyelashes, or one destined for the beloved's eyelashes, or one that's associated with the beloved's eyelashes through identity, possession, or in some other (unspecified) way? Usually such choices aren't even mutually exclusive. After all, we know from {10,2} what destiny the beloved's eyelashes have in mind for the lover's drops of blood. And we know from {26,7} that it's sometimes hard to tell who owes what to whom. But like a reliable trustee, the lover must account for every tiny bit of the estate that he is charged with administering. Every drop of the blood of the liver must be monitored and reported on individually, for we know the possessive beloved will insist on a detailed reckoning; for another such depiction see {113,3}.