far:t-e be-xvaabii se hai;N shab'haa-e hijr-e yaar me;N
juu;N zabaan-e sham((a daa;G-e garmii-e afsaanah ham
1) from an excess/predominance of sleeplessness/dreamlessness, we are, in the nights of separation from the beloved,
2) like the tongue of the candle, scarred/cauterized/pained by the heat/fervor/enthusiasm of the story/tale
far:t : 'Excess, extravagance, exorbitance; exceeding degree; superfluity; abundance; —mastery, ascendency, prevalence, predominance'. (Platts p.779)
daa;G honaa : 'To be cauterized, be scarred, &c.'. (Platts p.501)
garmii : 'Heat, warmth; warm or hot weather, the hot season; warmth, glow; fervour, fervency, ardour; activity, briskness, throng (of a market); —heat of temperament; heat of system, morbid heat; fieriness, vehemence; passion, rage, anger, excitement; attachment, warm affection; sexual passion, lust; heat'. (Platts p.905)
Raza p. 150; Raza p. 151. S. R. Faruqi's choices. Ghalib originally composed a ghazal of thirteen verses, from which he chose five for publication in his divan. In the original thirteen-verse ghazal, this verse was the fifth one,
The literal meaning of daa;G honaa would be 'to be a wound/scar'; by extension it also means 'to be scarred or cauterized'. According to S. R. Faruqi (Aug. 2008), that sense extends further to a more general sense of 'to be made unhappy, to suffer'.
For other 'tongue of the candle' verses, see {75,2}.
Gyan Chand:
In our story-- that is, in the events of our biography-- there was great heat/fervor. The complaint we have about this heat is that because of it, in the nights of separation we lie awake. The tongue of the candle too, having burned up with the heat of its story/tale, becomes only a scar/wound. We too, like it, are burning, and are sleepless. (253)