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 / cord-possessing} of the curls
andher : 'Darkness, gloom; violence, outrage, wrong, injustice, iniquity; tyranny, oppression'. (Platts p.91)
sarishtah : 'Rope, cord, thread, line; series; connextion, 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)
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)
SETS == WORDPLAY
BUREAUCRATIC: {38,7}
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 have 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.
Nazm:
[See his comments about {164,9}.]
== Nazm page 178; Nazm page 179