Ghazal 205, Verse 1

{205,1}

kabhii nekii bhii us ke jii me;N gar aa jaa))e hai mujh se
jafaa))e;N kar ke apnii yaad sharmaa jaa))e hai mujh se

1) if sometime even/also goodness/benevolence comes into her mind/temperament toward me
2) having remembered her own cruelties/oppressions, she is ashamed before me

Notes:

Hali:

That is, the thought 'He's spent his whole life in this oppression, now what good can it do him to show him a small bit of kindness?' makes her unable to show goodness.
==Urdu text: p. 162 in Hali, Yadgar-e Ghalib

Nazm:

That is, for me in that case too is wretchedness, for now out of shame she doesn't show her face. (231)

Bekhud Mohani:

First of all, she is never kind to me at all; and if in some way she even is, then having remembered her cruelty, she becomes ashamed. That is, we are very unfortunate: if no mercy comes, then we writhe with longing to see her face. And if mercy comes, then in shame she hides her face. In one more place he says, {46,1}. (409)

Arshi:

Compare {46,1}. (188, 293)

FWP:

SETS == CATCH-22
SPEAKING: {14,4}

The beloved almost always feels hostile and disdainful toward the lover; as a matter of course, therefore, she refuses to see him. But if by some chance she has a momentary fit of compassion, she recollects her own cruelties toward him, and feels too ashamed to look him in the eye-- and thus she refuses to see him. He's in a damned if you do, damned if you don't quandary-- a classic 'catch-22' situation.

The piquant {46,1} is indeed an ideal verse for comparison. That verse is so much more mischievous, multivalent, and complex, however, that the present verse suffers a bit through the contrast: it looks prosy, over-explanatory, and one-dimensional. Other than setting up a 'catch-22' situation, does it have any other delights to offer us?