Ghazal 294x, Verse 6

{294x,6}

dil kii .sadaa-e shikast saaz-e :tarab hai asad
shiishah-e be-baadah se chaahe hai qulqul hanuuz

1) the heart's sound of defeat/breaking, is the harmony/instrument of joy, Asad
2) from a glass without wine, you want a gurgling, now/still

Notes:

.sadaa : 'Echo; sound, noise; voice, tone, cry, call'. (Platts p.743)

 

shikast : 'Breaking, breakage, fracture; a breach; defeat, rout; deficiency, loss, damage'. (Platts p.730)

 

saaz : 'Concord, harmony; a musical instrument'. (Platts p.625)

 

qulqul : 'The noise made by water in the neck of a bottle when pouring out, gurgling'. (Platts p.794)

 

hanuuz : 'Yet, still, further, just now, at present, hitherto, to this very time, until now'. (Platts p.1515)

Zamin:

Mirza Asadullah Khan says to 'Asad' that 'You take pleasure even/also in the heart's sound of defeat/breaking. The glass has become empty of wine (when the heart broke, then the moods of happiness and joy decayed). But you are still eager to hear the sound of the gurgling!' It's a reproach/taunt; that is, your desire is inappropriate....

It's also possible that the subject of chaahe hai would be the beloved. That is, she finds pleasure in the sound of the defeat/breaking of Asad's heart, and she considers it an instrument of joy. But the former meaning is more plausible; this latter meaning is secondary.

== Zamin, p. 193

Gyan Chand:

When a full bottle of wine is inverted and emptied out, then a sound of gurgling emerges. In this way the gurgling is the sound of the wine's being cut down. When something is torn, then from it too a sound emerges. Only/emphatically the sound of the heart's breaking is, for me, the harmony/instrument of joy. Besides it, no other harmony/instrument is within my power. My heart is seeking, from an empty bottle, the sound of gurgling, which is a vain action. The heart has only an empty bottle available; thus finally it will be compelled to grieve.

== Gyan Chand, pp. 217-218

FWP:

SETS
WINE: {49,1}

For more on Ghalib's unpublished verses, see the discussion in {4,8x}.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

This verse will remind anyone of the deservedly famous {71,1}. And coincidentally or not, the preceding verse in the present ghazal, {249x,5}, contains gul-e na;Gmah , another phrase that appears in {71,1}.

The present verse has its own charm though, in the enjoyable onomatopoeic qulqul . (I had to fight off the temptation to translate it as 'glug-glug'.) This distinctive, non-obvious word was surely the origin of the verse, as the poet tried to think of more words that ended in - ul . It thus makes unusually clear the value of rhyme in inspiring composition. Moreover, in this verse the young poet was also able to make excellent use of the refrain, hanuuz . (Compare {294x,3}, about which Zamin rightly observes that the refrain is not integrated into the verse, but remains 'useless and unnecessary'.)

Given the sound of an emptying bottle, and the idea of 'now, still', the second line emerges brilliantly. (The first line, by contrast, remains vague and perfunctory; it's easy to imagine that it could have been quite different.) The second line is also a great study in the nuances of tone. Zamin takes it as sarcastic, as a taunt or reproach. Gyan Chand takes it as a sorrowful recognition of loss: the heart will finally be 'compelled to grieve'. It might also be read flatly, as a matter-of-fact observation. It could also be read as a question, either rhetorical or serious.

It could even be read as a program or manifesto. Perhaps the sound of the heart's 'defeat' or 'damage' might be an ongoing one; perhaps it can replace, or even replicate, the sound of the emptying wine-bottle. Perhaps what the mad and/or Sufistic lover wants is something he does indeed plan to achieve?

For after all, shikast itself can be as valuable as a 'pearl', as we see in {214,8}.