Ghazal 215, Verse 5

{215,5}

bak rahaa huu;N junuu;N me;N kyaa kyaa kuchh
kuchh nah samjhe ;xudaa kare ko))ii

1a) in madness, what-all things I am babbling!
1b) in madness, what-all things am I babbling?

2) may the Lord grant that no one would understand anything!

Notes:

Nazm:

From kuchh nah samjhe two aspects emerge. One is that the desire is that someone would understand, and would show kindness; but he himself has disparaged his babbling, and probably [;Gaaliba:n] this is the meaning intended by the author. And the other is [the desire] that no one would understand, and the secret would not be revealed. (244)

== Nazm page 244

Bekhud Dihlavi:

He says, 'In a state of fervor I am mentioning great secrets. May the Lord grant that no one would understand my speech.' The way possessed people in their trances keep saying many useful things, and most people can't draw any meaning from their words. (303)

Bekhud Mohani:

The various troubles that have come to me from the beloved-- now, because control over the heart no longer remains, these things are coming uncontrollably upon the tongue. May the Lord grant that she not understand anything! Otherwise, so many days of love, so much endurance-- it will all be sunk in the sea. (441)

FWP:

SETS == CATCH-22; EXCLAMATION
MADNESS: {14,3}

Here's another verse that's as inshaa))iyah as it can possibly be; it has a sort of 'catch-22' structure as well. For if the speaker is mad, why is he at the same time worrying about what he is saying in his madness? Isn't such a worry a sign of sanity? But how can he be sane, when he's babbling in madness? And so on, back and forth, unresolvably.

Similarly, what does it mean to pray that no one would understand him? If he's truly babbling in madness, wouldn't his ravings be incomprehensible anyway? If he's saying comprehensible things, and even perhaps revealing great secrets, isn't such coherence a sign of sanity? If he worries about the contents of his babblings, when they're meaningless, isn't that a sign of madness? But if he worries about the contents of his babblings when they're meaningful, isn't that a sign of sanity?

Round and round and round we go; and the wordplay too is full of repetitive pairs. The kuchh at the end of the first line is at once followed by the kuchh at the beginning of the second line; this repetition echoes that of kyaa kyaa , and reminds us of the enjoyable rhyme of huu;N junuu;N .

Compare {14,3}, which also shows us a speaker balancing uneasily on the boundary line between madness and sanity.