Ghazal 92, Verse 8x

{92,8x}*

miir ke shi((r kaa a;hvaal kahuu;N kyaa ;Gaalib
jis kaa diivaan kam az gulshan-e kashmiir nahii;N

1) the state/situation of the poetry of Mir-- what can I say, Ghalib?!--
2) whose divan is not less than a garden of Kashmir

Notes:

Asi:

Oh Ghalib, the state/situation of Mir-- why even ask?! How can I describe his state/situation? To me his divan seems to be a garden of Kashmir. Certainly for Urdu he is the Zuhuri [Asi quotes both versions of {92,7}], as Nasikh has entirely rightly said-- 'he is portionless, who is not a believer/follower of Mir'.

== Asi, p. 164

Gyan Chand:

The restfulness, freshness, and heart-attractingness that is in a garden of Kashmir, is in Mir's verses.

== Gyan Chand, p. 262

FWP:

SETS == INEXPRESSIBILITY: POETRY

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 For more on Ghalib's unpublished verses, see the discussion in {4,8x}.

For discussion of the use of a;hvaal as singular, see {57,4}.

That wonderful kyaa kahuu;N -- it has the idiomatic efficacy of 'what can I say?!'. By making a kind of verbal shrug and admitting the inadequacy of words, it comes as close as words can come to expressing the ineffable. For more on kyaa kahuu;N , see {15,11}.

The Mughal gardens of Kashmir not only have extensive grounds (thus playing on the literary term ground), but offer an astonishing mixture of lavish colors and varied forms, all disciplined into elaborate formal patterns. An excellent image for the six divans of Mir's poetry.

This verse became the title for my Mir project, A Garden of Kashmir.

Compare {92,7}, the official closing-verse in the divan version of this ghazal; it too is a deeply admiring tribute to Mir.