Ghazal 185, Verse 3

{185,3}

az-baskih sikhaataa hai ;Gam .zab:t ke andaaze
jo daa;G na:zar aayaa ik chashm-numaa))ii hai

1) to such an extent grief teaches the styles/degrees of restraint/regulation
2) whatever wound would come into view, is a single/particular/unique/excellent reproof/'eye-showing'

Notes:

andaazah : 'Measure, measurement; quantity; weighing, weight; degree, amount; valuing, valuation, value; rough estimate; conjecture, guess; proportion, symmetry; elegance, grace; mode, manner, style, fashion, pattern; carriage, bearing, gait; modulation (of the voice); time (in music)'. (Platts p.90)

 

chashm-numaa))ii karnaa : 'To reprove'. (Platts p.433)

Nazm:

Grief is teaching the lesson of restraint-- whatever new wound appears is the 'eye-showing' of that Ustad. The cause for a wound's similitude with an eye is obvious. (207)

== Nazm page 207

Bekhud Dihlavi:

He says, 'The grief of passion is giving me education in restraint. Whatever new wound arises in the heart. it serves as the 'eye-showing' of that Ustad-- that is, the grief of passion.' (267)

Bekhud Mohani:

chashm-numaa))ii = To show an eye [aa;Nkh dikhaanaa]; to browbeat/threaten [ghuraknaa].... Whatever wound is created in the heart, one ought not to consider it a wound; rather, it does 'eye-showing', that 'be warned, don't renounce restraint!'. It's not strange that this would be a new theme. (365)

FWP:

SETS == EK; IDIOMS
EYES {3,1}

A wound (especially a deep dagger-slash) is like an eye (especially a narrowed one) because they're both outwardly somewhat linear-appearing, and they both conceal their major depths behind a deceptively small surface opening.

Moreover, there's the idiomatic meaning for chashm-numaa))ii of 'browbeat' or 'threaten'; on this point Bekhud Mohani is supported by Chishti, who adds 'to scold' [;Daa;N;T ;Dapa;T karnaa] (738); and Mihr, who also proposes the ideally relevant 'to look angrily at' [;Gu.s.se se dekhnaa] (606). Also enjoyable is the word- and meaning-play between the 'eye-showing' and the 'coming into view' [na:zar aanaa] of the wound. In fact the main appeal of the verse is the clever deployment of this idiom.

Each wound that becomes visible is thus a reproving 'eye-showing' by Grief, reminding the lover that wounds shouldn't come into view at all, but instead should remain hidden. Or else we can read the first line not as a personification of an active Grief, but as a more general reflection. In that case it's the lover himself, having learned from his grief the lessons and 'styles' or 'degrees' of restraint, who admonishes and polices his own behavior in the second line.

Note for grammar fans: We can read the perfect aayaa as a substitute for the future subjunctive aa))e ; on this idiomatic usage see {35,9}.