Ghazal 314x, Verse 1

{314x,1}*

az aa;N jaa kih ;hasrat-kash-e yaar hai;N ham
raqiib-e tamannaa-e diidaar hai;N ham

1) since we are pining for the friend/beloved
2) we are a Rival of the longing for the sight/face

Notes:

az aa;N jaa : 'Thence, from that place'. (Steingass p.42)

 

;hasrat kashiidan : 'To sigh after, to regret (the absence of anyone), to wish anxiously to see a person'. (Steingass p.419)

 

diidaar : 'Sight, vision ... ; face, countenance, cheek; interview'. (Platts p.556)

Asi:

Because we have the habit of pining for the friend/beloved, and apart from this we have no other work/desire at all, we are a Rival and enemy of the longing for the sight. That is, we want only the friend/beloved, we are an enemy of the longing for the sight of the friend/beloved.

== Asi, pp. 158-159

Zamin:

This is one more theme of jealousy/envy and rivalry, that we are the Rival of the longing for the sight.

== Zamin, p. 226

Gyan Chand:

Ghalib is famous for themes of jealousy/envy. This verse too is on a theme something like this. We pine to meet the beloved. We want her to belong to no other friend/lover except ourself. In our heart is a longing for the sight/face of the friend/beloved. Since that longing is connected with the friend/beloved, we have begun to consider it our Rival.

== Gyan Chand, p. 255

FWP:

SETS == CATCH-22

For more on Ghalib's unpublished verses, see the discussion in {4,8x}.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

This verse hinges on the paradox of what might be called hyper-jealousy. The lover resents his own longing because it is directed toward the beloved: no one (else?) should be allowed even to long for her!

As Gyan Chand notes, this kind of impossibly convoluted hyper-jealousy is typically Ghalibian. For a more lucidly presented expression of the same idea, see {153,1}.