Ghazal 40, Verse 5x

{40,5x}

dars-e tapish hai barq ko ab jis ke naam se
vuh dil hai yih kih jis kaa ta;xallu.s .sabuur thaa

1) the one through/in whose name lightning now receives instruction in 'heat'/agitation--
2) that heart is such/'this'-- that its pen-name was 'Patient'

Notes:

dars : 'Reading, learning to read; a lecture; a lesson, exercise'. (Platts p.512)

 

tapish : 'Heat, warmth; distress (esp. that caused by heat); affliction; agitation; palpitation'. (Platts p.309)

 

.sabuur : 'Having great patience, very patient, patient, enduring; mild'. (Platts p.743)

Asi:

Lightning is now educated in 'heat'/agitation by its name. Alas, that my heart is the same heart that I used to call 'Patient'! On the one hand there was that time-- on the other hand there is this condition [yaa vuh zamaanah thaa yaa yih ((aalam hai].

== Asi, p. 66

Zamin:

That is, that same heart that at one time was called by the epithet 'Patient', has now begun to remain so restless and agitated that even lightning begins its lesson in agitation not with the name [as an invocation] of 'increase', but with the name of 'Ghalib's heart'.

== Zamin, p. 62

Gyan Chand:

Formerly my heart was so quiet and peaceful that it had adopted 'Patient' for its pen-name. Now, thanks to passion, it's gotten into such a state that lightning takes lessons from it in palpitation [ta;Rapnaa].

== Gyan Chand, p. 99

FWP:

SETS == POETRY
LIGHTNING: {10,6}

For background see S. R. Faruqi's choices. For more on Ghalib's unpublished verses, see the discussion in {4,8x}.

If the heart used the literary pen-name 'Patient', it was surely a poet. But apparently that was its former pen-name. Now, it presumably has a new one-- which wouldn't be surprising, since poets did sometimes change their pen-names. Ghalib himself did so, of course, when he gave up 'Asad' for 'Ghalib'.

Under its new pen-name the heart gives 'instruction' to the lightning in heat/agitation. This would suggest that the heart is not merely a poet, but an Ustad as well, so that the lightning is its pupil. And it's obviously a successful Ustad, since its pupil is so brilliantly accomplished. If the pupil shows the heat/agitation of lightning, what powers must the master be able to display?

Which leaves us with two questions. First, if under its new pen-name the heart achieves so much, what did it achieve under its old pen-name? Presumably some astonishing feats of 'patience' and 'endurance', as remarkable in their way as the training of lightning is now. But in the nature of things, such feats would have been subtle and subdued, so that the very proof of their accomplishment is that we know nothing about them.

We know the heart's former pen-name, and have some idea of the nature or power of its new one. But what is the heart's real name, when it's not composing poetry? About that we have no idea at all.