Ghazal 164, Verse 12

{164,12}

phir hu))e hai;N gavaah-e ((ishq :talab
ashk-baarii kaa ;hukm jaarii hai

1) again the witnesses of passion have been sought/'sent for'
2) the rule/order of tear-shedding is in force

Notes:

;hukm : 'Judgment, judicial decision, sentence, decree, verdict, doom, award; judicial authority, jurisdiction, rule, dominion, government, control, direction, management'. (Platts p.480)

Nazm:

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

== Nazm page 178; Nazm page 179

Bekhud Dihlavi:

He says, 'Again before the court the witnesses of passion are appearing. The rule of tear-shedding is in force.' Along with tears, the blood of the heart is presenting a fragment of the liver as a testimony of passion. (238)

Bekhud Mohani:

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

FWP:

SETS == IZAFAT
COMMERCE: {3,3}

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

The ambiguities of the i.zaafat come into play in this verse. In the first line, are those witnesses 'of' passion in the sense that they have observed it and will testify about it? Or are they witnesses 'of' Passion in the sense that they are made of semi-personified Passion and are identified with it (as in 'man of sorrows')? And in the second line, the rule of 'tear-shedding'-- is that a rule requiring that tears be shed, or does it refer to rule or governance by a semi-personified entity called 'Tear-shedding'?

These semi-personifications aren't at all implausible. In this verse-set, after all, the beloved's curls are court record-keepers, and a piece of the lover's liver is a plaintiff.