Ghazal 164, Verse 10

{164,10}

ho rahaa hai jahaan me;N andher
zulf kii phir sarishtah-daarii hai

1) in the world tyranny/darkness is taking place
2) again there is the court-record-keeping/'connection-possessing' of the curls

Notes:

andher : 'Darkness, gloom; violence, outrage, wrong, injustice, iniquity; tyranny, oppression'. (Platts p.91)

 

sarishtah : 'Rope, cord, thread, line; series; connection, affinity; practice, course, custom, usage, form; rites, ceremonies; --office, employment; record-office'. (Platts p.653)

 

sarishtah-daar : 'An officer whose business it is to lay petitions before judicial officers and to write down the orders passed on them; chief record-keeper and court reader'. (Platts p.653)

*Platts Dictionary Online*

Nazm:

[See his comments about {164,9}.]

== Nazm page 178; Nazm page 179

Bekhud Dihlavi:

He says, again in the world that same tyranny/darkness is occurring, and its cause is that again the curls have received the post of sarishtah-daar . (238)

Bekhud Mohani:

Again the master of the court (the beloved) has made the curls her sarishtah-daar , and the world is being looted. That is, again the beloved has formed an intention of heart-stealing, and the curls are doing their work. (320)

FWP:

SETS == WORDPLAY
COMMERCE: {3,3}
CURLS: {14,6}

This is the second of five verses of a verse-set full of legal terminology; for further discussion of the whole set, see {164,9}.

The interlocking wordplay makes this verse a particular pleasure. Both andher and sarishtah offer excellently exploited double meanings; see the definitions above. The world is full of tyranny because the cruel, unjust, irresistible curls are in a position of power: they are the 'record-keepers' in the beloved's 'court of coquetry'. And/or-- the world is full of darkness because of the beloved's black curls, which engulf and bind people in their thick black twists and turns.

 

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