Ghazal 241x, Verse 1

Asi:

Having taken a single step of self-lessness, we would ravage the desert, and in the embrace of a footstep we would take the whole desert and suppress [dabaanaa] it.

== Asi, p. 80

Zamin:

A single footstep is the measurement of self-lessness. The meaning is that in the ardor for desert-wandering when we would emerge from our house, then in the very first footstep we would become self-less and intoxicated, and in the state of self-lessness we would revel in [mazah luu;Tnaa] the pleasure of desert-wandering. The second line expands upon the first line: in a single footstep of self-lessness to ravage the desert, is nothing-- so to speak, in the embrace of a footstep we have to seize/clutch [daboch lenaa] the desert. The gist is that we don't have the strength for desert-wandering; having drunk wine, in the agitation of intoxication we would keep seeing dreams of desert-wandering.

== Zamin, p. 102

Gyan Chand:

fashaar karnaa = to take some beautiful one into an embrace and press down [dabaanaa] and constrain [bhiichnaa] her, and in this way to ravage her flourishingness. The claim of madness is that for moving around, the desert should be as big as possible. The resolve of madness is that for it the biggest desert should be small-- it should traverse it in one or two leaps. In a single step of self-forgetfulness, we want to subdue [tas;xiir karnaa] the flourishingness of the whole desert. Within a single footprint we will contain and constrain the whole desert; that is, the breadth of the whole desert would be reduced to a single footstep or footprint. In a state of self-lessness, everything is possible.

== Gyan Chand, p. 144

FWP:

SETS
BEKHUDI: {21,6}
DESERT: {3,1}
GRANDIOSITY: {5,3}

For more on Ghalib's unpublished verses, see the discussion in {4,8x}. See also the overview index.

What a truly remarkable ghazal this is! Of course it is shaped by its potent refrain, but it goes beyond that to create a kind of hymn to the desert. All the verses except the opening-verse and the closing-verse also display unusually elaborate and conspicuous internal rhyme.

In fact the whole ghazal feels like a musical kind of 'continuous ghazal' [;Gazal-e musalsal]. For convenient access, here are verses 2 through 5:

(2) va;hshat agar rasaa hai be-;ha.silii adaa hai
paimaanah-e havaa hai musht-e ;Gubaar-e .sa;hraa

[if wildness/madness is successful, non-attainment is a completion
the measure of desire/wind is a handful of dust of the desert] (also presented independently: {241x,2})

(3) ai aabile karam kar yaa;N ranjah yak qadam kar
ai nuur-e chashm-e va;hshat ai yaadgaar-e .sa;hraa

[oh blisters, be kind-- here, take a single footstep with delicacy
oh light of the eyes of wildness! oh memorial of the desert!]

(4) dil dar rikaab-e .sa;hraa ;xaanah-;xaraab-e .sa;hraa
mauj-e saraab-e .sa;hraa ((ar.z-e ;xumaar-e .sa;hraa

[the heart is riding for the desert, home-wrecked by the desert
the wave of a mirage of the desert, the breadth of intoxication of the desert]

(5) har ;zarrah yak dil-e paak aa))iinah-;xaanah be-;xaak
tim;saal-e shauq-e be-baak .sad jaa do-chaar-e .sa;hraa

[every grain, a single pure heart; a mirror-chamber without dust
an image of shameless ardor; in a hundred places, confronting the desert]

[(6) is presented independently as {241x,6}]

These verses are almost a chant; most of them are hardly more than strings of rhythmic and rhymed images. Against such a backdrop, the present verse stands out for its intriguing and seemingly violent imagery. The speaker plans to do something forceful to the desert-- maybe even something with rough sexual overtones, as Gyan Chand asserts. But maybe the speaker is just drunk and fantasizing, as Zamin maintains; or maybe he's in a mystical state of 'self-lessness', in which 'everything is possible' (as Gyan Chand concludes).

In any case, what I love is the imagery. With a single footstep, the speaker would roughly enjoy or ravage (or maybe even ravish?) the desert. Within the narrow, tight, rounded 'embrace' of a single footprint, the 'squeezing, pressing (with the hand); compression, constriction' of the desert would be done. The 'embrace' sounds affectionate, and a very tight embrace could well be a sign of desire and/or love. But the 'squeezing' and 'compression'! Are they erotic, or hostile? And are they efficacious, so that the desert is actually confined within the 'embrace' of a footprint (the way the desert is burnt up in {5,4})? Or is the speaker (mystically?) intoxicated and/or mad? As so often, we're left to decide for ourselves.