Ghazal 25, Verse 10x

{25,10x}

gar vuh mast-e naaz devegaa .salaa-e ((ar.z-e ;haal
;xaar-e gul bahr-e dahaan-e gul zabaa;N ho jaa))egaa

1) if that one intoxicated with coquetry will give a call/invitation for a presentation/petition
2) the rose-thorn, for the rose's mouth, will become a tongue

Notes:

.salaa : 'Calling or inviting (beggars, &c.), to receive or partake of food; invitation; annunciation; proclamation; voice, call, cry'. (Platts p.745)

 

((ar.z-e ;haal : 'Statement, or representation, of a case, memorial, petition'. (Platts p.760)

 

bahr : 'On account of, for the sake of, for'. (Platts p.185)

Gyan Chand:

If that lofty-ranked beloved would command the lovers to make a presentation/petition, then even the flowers, who are among her lovers and are tongueless, would make a thorn into a tongue and express their wretched condition. It is clear that in her presence, a flower has no status.

== Gyan Chand, p. 106

FWP:

SETS
SPEAKING: {14,4}

For background see S. R. Faruqi's choices. This verse is NOT one of his choices; I have added it myself, mostly for the sake of completeness. For more on Ghalib's unpublished verses, see the discussion in {4,8x}.

The blooming rose's shape gives it a 'mouth'; generally this 'mouth' is used for smiling or laughing (often ironically, because of its own imminent withering and death). Or else the rose speaks in the zabaan-e ;haal , the wordless 'language' of the condition it's in. In the present verse, it uses its mouth for actual speaking, by pressing into service a thorn to act as a tongue. So incomparably great is the beloved's authority that the rose had no more choice about obeying her than did any other hapless lover.