Ghazal 353x, Verse 1

{353x,1}*

ashk-e chakiidah rang-e pariidah
har :tar;h huu;N mai;N az ;xvud ramiidah

1) fallen tears, a pallid color
2) in every way, I am horrified by myself

Notes:

FWP:

SETS

For more on Ghalib's unpublished verses, see the discussion in {4,8x}.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

This unusual ghazal is the only one Ghalib ever composed in this very short meter: = = / - = = // = = / - = = (which, it should be noted, still has a powerful caesura). A meter like this, as can be seen from the example above, makes complexity almost impossible to achieve. But it maintains an enjoyable rhythm, which is surely why Faruqi endorsed every single verse of it. Since the verses are more effective together, the whole rest of the ghazal is presented here:

(2) go yaad mujh ko karte hai;N ;xuubaa;N
lekin basaan-e dard-e kashiidah

[although they remember me, the beautiful ones--
but, like a long-drawn-out pain]

(3) hai rishtah-e jaa;N far:t-e kashish se
maanind-e nab.z-e dast-e buriidah

[the thread of life is, through deficiency in drawing-power
like the pulse of a cut-off hand]

(4) ;Tuu;Taa hai afsos muu-e ;xam-e zulf
hai shaanah yak-sar dast-e gaziidah

[it has broken, alas-- a hair from the twist of the curls
the comb is entirely/'one-head' a bitten [in regret] hand]

(5) ;xaal-e siyaah-e rangii;N-ru;xaa;N se
hai daa;G-e laalah dar ;xuu;N :tapiidah

[like the black beauty-spot of the colorful-faced ones
the wound of the tulip has throbbed in blood]

(6) josh-e junuu;N se juu;N kisvat-e gul
sar taa bah paa huu;N jeb-e dariidah

[through the turmoil of madness, like the dress of the rose
from head to foot, I am a torn collar]

(7) yaaro asad kaa naam-o-nishaa;N kyaa
bedil faqiir-e aafat-rasiidah

[friends, what name and sign does Asad have?!
a heart-less/'Bedil', calamity-stricken faqir]