kyaa kamaal-e ((ishq naq.s-aabad-e getii me;N mile
pu;xtagiihaa-e ta.savvur yaa;N ;xayaal-e ;xaam hai
1) what completion of passion would be attainable, in the deficiency-dwelling of the world?!
2) ripenesses/'cookednesses' of imagination/thought, here, is a 'half-baked' idea
kamaal : 'Completion, conclusion; perfection; excellence'. (Platts p.847)
naq.s : 'Defect; deficiency; diminution, decrease, wane; detriment, damage; blemish, flaw, unsoundness, weakness (as in a title, &c.); injury, harm, mischief'. (Platts p.1146)
pu;xtagii : 'The being cooked; ripeness, maturity; firmness, soundness, solidity, strength; experience'. (Platts p.231)
ta.savvur : 'Imaging or picturing (a thing) to the mind; imagination, fancy; reflection, contemplation, meditation; forming an idea; idea, conception, perception'. (Platts p.326)
;xayaal : 'Thought, opinion, surmise, suspicion, conception, idea, notion, fancy, imagination, conceit. whim, chimera; consideration'. (Platts p.498)
;xaam : 'Raw, unripe, green, crude, immature; inexpert, inexperienced; vain, puerile, absurd; not solid or substantial, not made of masonry, of unbaked earth or of mud; rough, approximate (as an estimate, &c.); imperfect, unsound, bad'. (Platts p.485)
He has brought the words together-- kamaal , naq.s , pu;xtagii , ;xaam , ta.savvur , ;xayaal ! In the poet's opinion, ripeness of imagination would have sought for completeness of passion, but the world itself is a dwelling of deficiency. In such a deficient place, how could it attain ripeness of imagination? It will remain only a half-baked idea. The gist of the verse is that the claim made by seekers of passion is deficient or is a half-baked idea.
The world is a place of deficiency. Here, how can even passion be complete? Here, the ripeness of some idea/perception is a kind of thought that cannot be completed.
SETS == OPPOSITES
For more on Ghalib's unpublished verses, see the discussion in {4,8x}. See also the overview index.
As Zamin points out, in an excellent show of wordplay the verse has 'brought together' kamaal , naq.s , pu;xtagii , ;xaam , ta.savvur , ;xayaal -- two pairs of conspicuous opposites, and a pair of thought-provoking quasi-synonyms (see the definitions above). But the verse really rests chiefly on one pair, puxtagiihaa versus ;xaam . The pair have some conspicuous features:
=The puxtagiihaa is as long as possible, stretched out by a completely unnecessary Persian plural ending (on Ghalib's fondness for pluralized abstractions, see {1,2}), and topped off with an i.zaafat . In Urdu puxtagiihaa is fully as clunky as 'cookednesses' is in English, and the plural adds just as little to the meaning.
=The ;xaam is conspicuously short and punchy. Moreover, the pair are positioned at opposite ends of the second line, so that the alliterative phrase ;xayaal-e ;xaam appears in the emphatic, closural rhyme position. For a similar (and equally effective) positioning of ;xayaal-e ;xaam by Mir, see M{7,12}.
=The word pu;xtagii never appears in any divan verse, and ;xaam appears only once (in {232,4}). So it seems that they also deserve credit for bringing in a 'fresh word'.
This curmudgeonly verse resonates with the equally bleak previous verse, {376x,4}, which envisions what sounds like the imminent doom of our poor half-baked world.
For another instance of puxtagiihaa (versus ;xaamii ), see {404x,1}.
Asi:
The world is a 'deficiency-dwelling'-- that is, a place of deficiency. Here, the attainment of accomplishment/completion is impossible and absurd. To entertain/'cook' this kind of thought is only half-baked thinking, nothing else at all.
== Asi, p. 294