qaid me;N bhii hai asiirii aazaad
chashm-e zanjiir ko vaa baa;Ndhte hai;N
1) even/also in confinement/bondage, the captive is free
2) the eye of the chain/fetter we/they versify/'bind' as 'open'
qaid : 'A shackle, fetter, bonds; bondage; confinement, imprisonment; control; restraint; restriction'. (Platts p.796-97)
asiir : 'Bound, tied, made captive; —s.m. Prisoner, captive'. (Platts p.55)
vaa honaa : 'To be or become open; to open; to be freed or liberated; to be relieved of sorrow, to become cheerful'. (Platts p.1171)
SETS == POETRY; WORDPLAY
BONDAGE: {1,5}
EYES {3,1}
Raza p. 234. S. R. Faruqi's choices. This verse is from a different, unpublished, ham-:tar;h ghazal from the same year, and is included for comparison. In the unpublished ghazal, this was the fourth verse.
On the literary use of baa;Ndhnaa as 'to versify', see {108,1}.
Here's a lovely little verse with absolutely nothing going on in it except wordplay-- but then, in twelve words, what more does it need to have its very enjoyable effect? Bondage versus freedom, the captive as free, the poetic act of 'binding' or versifying, the chains as 'eyes' that are 'bound' or versified as 'open'-- how pleasurably these patterns of imagery engage the mind!
The central metaphor of the chain-links as 'eyes' is what energizes the whole clever paradox. For only if 'eyes' are open and vigilant can they be effective. But if these chain-eyes are open, then by that very fact their effectiveness is gone.
Moreover, the mad lover, the persona of the poet/speaker in the ghazal world, is the one who is invariably chained up. Yet, as an extra paradox, not only do the chains ineffectively 'bind' him-- but he much more effectively 'binds' the chains, by 'binding' them into a verse in whatever way he chooses. The implication is that if poets wished, they could 'bind' the chain-eyes as closed.
Gyan Chand:
They call the circles of the chain the 'eyes' of the chain; thus these eyes are 'chains' and they 'bind'/versify them in the verse. Thus he is in captivity. But they are 'open'. For them to be 'open' makes it clear that he is free of captivity and bondage. Thus the 'eyes' of the chains have proved that even while he is in chains, he can remain free. (270)