Ghazal 312x, Verse 4

{312x,4}*

gar hai sar-e daryuuzagii-e jalvah-e diidaar
jyuu;N panjah-e ;xvurshiid ho ai dast-e du((aa garm

1) if you have a mind/'head' for begging for the glory/appearance of the vision/face
2) like the rays/'five-fingers' of the sun, become, oh hand of prayer, fervent/'hot'

Notes:

diidaar : 'Sight, vision ... ; look, appearance; face, countenance'. (Platts p.556)

 

panjah : 'An aggregate of five; ... — the hand with the fingers extended; claw, paw (of a tiger, &c.); clutch, grasp, possession, power'. (Platts p.271)

 

panjah-e ;xvurshiid : 'The rays of the sun'. (Steingass p.257)

 

garm : 'Hot, warm; in a state of heat; burning; glowing: fervid; ardent, zealous, fervent; excited; eager, intent on'. (Platts p.905)

Gyan Chand:

If you want to beg for the alms of the vision of the glory/appearance of the beloved, then, oh praying hand, beg absorbedly and continuously, like the rays of the sun. The sun's rays/'five-fingers' too are a single begging hand that is extended, seeking the glory/appearance of the beloved. The idea is that the beloved's glory/appearance has superiority over the shining of the sun.

== Gyan Chand, p. 538

FWP:

SETS == WORDPLAY
JALVAH: {7,4}
SUN: {10,5}

For more on Ghalib's unpublished verses, see the discussion in {4,8x}.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

As Gyan Chand observes, the beloved's glory/appearance outranks that of the sun-- and not only that, but the sun itself obtains its own radiance by stretching out its 'hand' of rays and begging, fervently/hotly, for alms from her. This verse is thus very much part of the 'snide remarks about the natural world' set; for others, see {4,8x}.

The addressee, the 'hand of prayer', is being instructed in how to obtain the kind of favor that the sun has obtained. The secret is to emulate the sun-- to beg 'absorbedly and continually', as Gyan Chand puts it, and to be fervent and 'hot' in begging. The verse thus cleverly turns the sun's great heat and constant stream of rays into evidence of its feverish, insatiable longing for alms of the beloved's radiant beauty.

The verse is also very deeply one of wordplay. An outstretched, slightly cupped hand is universally recognizable as a plea for something (often for food). The sun's rays spread out from a common source like the fingers from the palm, so the rays are (in Persian) its 'five-fingers'-- literally, of course, its 'fiver'. If the sun has an outstretched hand, then it can easily be thought of as begging, and thus as providing an example for the aspiring beggar, the 'hand of prayer'. (Besides all these 'hands' and 'fingers', the first line also enjoyably contains a 'head' and a 'face'.)

Compare {24,3}, another verse about the lover, the sun, and the beloved as an alms-giver of radiance.