aa ay bahaar-e naaz kih tere ;xiraam se
dastaar gird-e shaa;x-e gul-e naqsh-e paa karuu;N
1) come, oh springtime/flourishing of coquetry, so that from/through your gait/pace
2)
I might/would make the turban-sash surround the branch of the rose of the footprint
;xiraam : 'Pace, gait, walk, march; stately gait, graceful walk; strut'. (Platts p.488)
dastaar : 'A sash or fine muslin cloth wrapped round a turban'. (Platts p.516)
SETS
CLOTHING/NAKEDNESS: {3,5}
Raza p. 151; Raza p. 152. S. R. Faruqi's choices. Ghalib originally composed a ghazal of nine verses, from which he chose one for publication in his divan. In the original nine-verse ghazal, this verse was the third one.
The 'branch' seems to be merely padding, and adds nothing to the verse except metrical convenience. For a general discussion of repetition and padding, see {17,9}. It did occur to me briefly that one very literal way to read the branch would be as the beloved's leg(s)-- but the thought is ludicrous, and I only mention it here because it's so amusingly awful. What price poetic tact!
Here the nineteen-year-old poet is experimenting, trying things out, developing his skills. Even apart from the question of padding, the verse's lack of connection also appears as a weakness. This is of course one of the verses that he chose not to publish, so if we fish it out of his wastebasket, we can't complain about its quality.
Along similar lines, compare the far more successful (and published) {158,5}.
Gyan Chand:
From the second line three interpretations can emerge. 1) Oh beloved, if you would walk this way, then all around your footprint I would spread my turban-sash. To place the turban-sash on the ground is an extremity of weakness/submission. 2) To place flowers in the turban-sash is an adornment of the turban-sash. Your footprint is like a flower, I bring the turban-sash close to it so that having touched it, roses will come into my turban-sash. Which rose? That of the footprint. 3) A turban-sash is tied by some Shaikh or elder or venerable one. Your footstep too is of such venerableness that I will tie a turban-sash around it. (258)