kahuu;N kyaa ;xuubii-e au.zaa((-e
abnaa-e zamaa;N ;Gaalib
badii kii us ne jis se ham ne kii thii baar-haa nekii
1) what can I say!-- the excellence of the ways/habits of the sons of
the age, Ghalib!
2) that one treated us badly, whom we'd many times treated well
va.z(( (of which au.zaa(( is the plural): 'Situation, position; disposition; nature, tenour; description, character, complexion; —condition, state; —appearance, form, guise; —gesture, action; —conduct, behaviour; —mode of living or acting; mode, manner, fashion; —operation, performance, procedure'. (Platts p.1196)
This rhyme is called 'contrived rhyme'. If such a rhyme is used in one or two verses, then it is considered a beauty of poetry. He says, the sons of the age have come to have such ways that we can't even express their excellence-- the person whom I had many times treated well, treated us badly. In the first line, the word ;xuubii has been used sarcastically, and has the meaning of 'evil'. (202)
Don't ask about the excellence of the style of the worldly ones! A person treated us badly, whom we had not once but many times treated well. From this the author's astonishment is evident, as if he hadn't at all expected such treatment from anybody. (269)
SETS == INEXPRESSIBILITY
GOOD/BAD: {22,4}
What a contrast between the lines! The first line is deliberately ornate, featuring two fancy Arabic plurals, au.zaa(( from va.z(( and abnaa from ibn , and further adorned by no fewer than three i.zaafat constructions. It's a highly abstract general statement, making use as well of the inexpressibility trope ('what can I say'). For more on kyaa kahuu;N , see {15,11}.
After such a setup (elaborate verbiage plus a claim to have no words), the second line cuts like a knife. What really hurts is not a vast, ponderous generalization about Modern Man. What really hurts is the way that one particular person has treated me. He returned so much bad, after I gave him so much good! The vocabulary, the grammar, the structure-- everything is direct, heartfelt, full of simplicity and pain.
Nazm:
In all the previous verses of this ghazal, ne was part of the rhyme; and in this verse, it's become part of the refrain. In the rules of rhyme they call this kind of rhyme 'contrived rhyme', and they have counted it among the defects of rhyme. But artifice-loving [ta.sannu((-pasand] poets consider it a verbal device. (146)
== Nazm page 146