nahii;N gar bah kaam-e dil-e ;xastah garduu;N
jigar-;xaa))ii-e josh-e ;hasrat salaamat
1) if the heavens are not within the action/desire/palate
of the {worn-down / pastry-like} heart
2a) liver-{gnawing/chewing} of the boiling/turmoil of longing/grief, wellbeing
[to you]!
2b) may the liver-{gnawing/chewing} of the boiling/turmoil of longing/grief
be well/safe!
kaam : '(Hindi) Action, act, deed, work, doing, handiwork, performance; work, labour, duty, task, job; business, occupation, employment, office, function; operation, undertaking, transaction, affair, matter, thing, concern, interest'. (Platts p.804)
kaam : '(Persian) Desire, wish; design, intention; --the palate'. (Platts p.804)
;xastah : 'Wounded, hurt; broken; infirm; sick, sorrowful;--fragile, brittle; crisp, short, light (as pastry)'. (Platts p.490)
gardun : 'A wheel; the heavens, the firmament, the celestial globe or sphere; chance, fortune (and her revolving wheel)'. (Platts p.903)
;xaa))ii : '(in compos.) Chewing, gnawing, biting; pleasure, anything grateful to the sense'. (Steingass p.445)
josh : 'Boiling, ebullition; effervescence; heat, excitement, passion, emotion; lust; fervour, ardour, zeal; vehemence; enthusiasm; frenzy'. (Platts p.397)
SETS == WORDPLAY
FOOD: {6,4}
JIGAR: {2,1}
Raza p. 252. S. R. Faruqi's choices. Ghalib originally composed a ghazal of ten verses, from which he chose four for publication in his divan. In the original ten-verse ghazal, this verse was the sixth one.
Gyan Chand has ;xvaahii rather than ;xaa))ii ; Arshi agrees with Raza, and as always, I follow Arshi. In this case it's clear that ;xvaahii destroys the wordplay of food and eating, without providing any substitute, so that it does seem to be an inferior reading.
The wonderful word kaam has a range of meanings that Ghalib delights in exploiting: here, as so often-- for other examples, see {22,6}-- all three senses are beautifully appropriate. 'Action, work' and 'desire, wish' are certainly the obvious candidates, the usual suspects, the ones that we would emphasize in our minds on a first reading.
But then, after (under mushairah performance conditions) a suitably long interval, we are allowed to hear the second line, we at once encounter the idea of 'gnawing, chewing' the liver-- which of course reminds us that kaam also means 'palate, throat'. And we might also notice that ;xastah is also a quality of delicate pastry (see the definition above), and 'boiling' [josh] is itself a technique of cooking-- one that softens tough meats, so that they require less 'gnawing', and impose less of a burden on a 'worn-down' eater.
In short, if we can't devour the heavens, let's hear it for the liver-gnawing 'of' the turbulent boiling 'of' longing. Thanks to the i.zaafat constructions, we can't tell whether the gnawing is caused by the boiling, or is identical with the boiling, or simply pertains to the boiling in some other, unspecified way. (And all the same range of possibilities obtain in the case of the boiling 'of' longing, too.) In this verse, the imagery is so abstract that perhaps we don't even care very much about working out all the possible permutations.
But it's that jigar-;xaa))ii that energizes it all. Is gnawing on one's own liver really an adequate consolation for inability to gnaw on the sky? Is the verse gallant, rueful, despairing, anxious, or even perhaps cheerful? Ghalib leaves us to decide for ourselves, as we choose a tone for the verse every time we recite it.
For more on the double reading of salaamat proposed in the second line, see the discussion in {51,4}.
Gyan Chand:
The liver is the symbol of strength and spirit/courage; thus the meaning of jigar-;xvaahii is the desire for the power of endurance. If the sky doesn't revolve according to the goals and desires of our wounded heart, then we have the desire for the power to endure longing/grief. May this desire of ours remain safe/well! (175)