Ghazal 53, Verse 7

{53,7}

taa kih mai;N jaanuu;N kih hai us kii rasaa))ii vaa;N talak
mujh ko detaa hai payaam-e va((dah-e diidaar-e dost

1) so that I would know that his access/reach is up to there
2) he gives me a message of a promise of a sight/interview of the friend/beloved

Notes:

rasaa))ii : 'Arriving; entrance, access; accessibleness; reach, compass'. (Platts p.592)

 

diidaar : 'Sight, vision (= diid ); look, appearance; face, countenance, cheek; interview'. (Platts p.556)

Nazm:

== Nazm page 49

FWP:

SETS
VOWS: {20,2}

This is the second verse in a five-verse verse-set that begins with {53,6} and is discussed by the commentators there.

The 'he' is of course the Other, as we know from {53,6}. The lover recognizes the Other's behavior as hostile, though it is perhaps cloaked in the guise of helpfulness (he's kindly bearing a hopeful message promising the lover a meeting with her). Or else he might just be boasting (he's smugly reporting that the beloved has promised to meet with him).

In either case, such a 'message' doesn't show that he really has the rasaa))ii , the access, that he's claiming. He might simply be inventing it all, to glorify himself and/or to torment the lover.

Moreover, the three i.zaafat constructions in a row add a large dollop of vagueness and pompousness-- how reliable after all is a 'message of a promise of a sight'? And is the unreliability that of the beloved, the Other, or (most likely) both of them?