Beyond meaning

Re-reading yesterday's post this afternoon, I was totally mortified when I realized I had severely shortchanged you last time.  I'm sorry  :(  and I'm trying to make it up to you now.

All you got yesterday was the semantic content of the poem, which is ridiculous (if Miir only cared about the semantic content, he would simply have written it in prose).  This point is even more crucial for a Ghazal than for most other poetry, because a Ghazal is really supposed to be recited or sung, as opposed to being read in silence.  Miir in particular is considered the great master of kaifii'at aafiriinii, which means "creating atmosphere", and of course sound is a central tool for breathing life into an atmosphere.  The way I wrote yesterday, Miir's Ghazal was dead on the page, and I was the murderer  :(

I will try to make amends in two steps, using two other Ghazals of Miir (one in each of the two steps).  Here's the first one (Dr. Pritchett discusses every single distich of this one, so just click on the distichs for the semantic content):

1.  ulTii ho ga'iiN sab tadbiireN kuchh na davaa ne kaam kiyaa
     dekhaa is biimaariy-e dil ne aaKhir kaam tamaam kiyaa

2.  'ahd-e javaanii ro ro kaaTaa piirii meN liiN aaNkheN muuNd
     ya'nii raat bahut the jaage sub'H huvii aaraam kiyaa

3.  Harf nahiiN jaaN baKhshi meN us kii Khvuubii apnii qismat kii
     ham se jo pahle kah bhejaa so marne kaa paiGhaam kiyaa

4.  naa Haqq ham majbuuroN par yih tuhmat hai muKhtaarii kii
     chaahte haiN so aap kare haiN ham ko 'abas bad naam kiyaa

5.  saare rind aubaash jahaaN ke tujh se sujuud meN rahte haiN
     baaNke TeRhe tirchhe tiikhe sab kaa tujh ko imaam kiyaa

6.  sar zadd ham se be adabii to vaHshat meN bhii kam hi huvii
     kosoN us kii or gaye par sajdah har har gaam kiyaa

7.  kis kaa ka'bah kaisaa qiblah kaun Haram hai kyaa iHraam
     kuuche ke us ke baashindoN ne sab ko yihiiN se salaam kiyaa

8.  shaiKh jo hai masjid meN naNgaa raat ko thaa mai Khaane meN
     jubbah Khirqah kurtaa Topii mastii meN in'aam kiyaa

9.  kaash ab burqah muNh se uThaa de var nah phir kyaa Haasil hai
     aaNkh muNde par un ne go diidaar ko apne 'aam kiyaa

10. yaaN ke saped o siyah meN ham ko daKhl jo hai so itnaa hai
      raat ko ro ro sub'H kiyaa yaa din ko juuN tuuN shaam kiyaa

11. sub'H chaman meN us ko kahiiN takliif-e havaa le aa'ii thii
      ruKh se gul ko mol liyaa qaamat se sarv Ghulaam kiyaa

12. saa'id-e siimiiN donoN us ke haath meN laa kar chhoR diye
      bhuule us ke qaul o qasam par haa'e Khiyaal-e Khaam kiyaa

13. kaam huve haiN saare zaa'i' har saa'at ki samaajat se
      istiGhnaa kii chauguni un ne juuN juuN maiN ibraam kiyaa

14. aise aahuv-e ram Khvurdah kii vaHshat khonii mushkil hai
      siHr kiyaa i'jaaz kiyaa jin logoN ne tujh ko raam kiyaa

15.:Miir: ke diin o maz'Hab ko ab puuchhte kyaa ho un ne to 
      qashqah kheNchaa dair meN baiThaa kab kaa tark islaam kiyaa

Now for the sound:  We'll listen to AKhtariibaa'ii Faizaabaadii singing the above Ghazal.  She sings only 4 of the 15 distichs (the first two, the tenth, and the last), which is perfectly normal because, in a Ghazal, the distichs are semantically independent of each other (so the above is really a sequence of 15 independent two-line poems, as opposed to one 30-line poem), so you might as well treat them individually in recitation or song.

I should add:  Although I personally find the music below beautiful, I am fully aware that (Hindustaanii) classical music can be an acquired taste, so ... just don't expect her to sound like One Direction, this is music from another direction.

Here's the rendition.

Now we're ready for the second and final step  :)  First the Ghazal:

1.  faqiiraana aa'e sadaa kar chale
     k myaaN Khvush raho ham du'aa kar chale

2.  jo tujh bin na jiine ko kahte the ham
     so us 'ahd ko ab vafaa kar chale

3.  shifaa apni taqdiir hii meN na thii
     k maqduur tak to davaa kar chale

4.  paRe aise asbaab paayaan-e kaar
     k naa chaar yuuN jii jalaa kar chale

5.  vuh kyaa chiiz hai aah jis ke liye
     har ik chiiz se dil uThaa kar chale

6.  ko'ii naa umiidaana karte nigaah
     so tum ham se muNh bhii chhupaa kar chale

7.  bahut aarzuu thii galii kii tirii
     so yaaN se lahuu meN nahaa kar chale

8.  dikhaa'ii diye yuuN k be Khvud kiyaa
     hameN aap se bhii judaa kar chale

9.  jabiiN sajda karte hi karte ga'ii
     Haq-e bandagii ham adaa kar chale

10. parastish ki yaaN tak k ai but tujhe
      nazar meN sabhoN kii Khudaa kar chale

11. jhaRe phuul jis raNg gul bun se yuuN
      chaman meN jahaaN ke ham aa kar chale

12. na dekhaa Gham-e dostaaN shukr hai
      hamiiN daaGh apnaa dikhaa kar chale

13. ga'ii 'umr dar band-e fikr-e Ghazal
      so us fann ko aisaa baRhaa kar chale

14. kaheN kyaa jo puuchhe ko'ii ham se :Miir:
      jahaaN meN tum aa'e the kyaa kar chale

Dr. Pritchett has not discussed anything from this one yet, and I'm not going to try to tell you the meanings either.  Instead, we'll watch a clip from the 1982 film Bazaar, where the eighth, ninth, tenth, and seventh distichs are sung (in that order).  Here's the clip.

And if the experiment worked right, you saw that poetry can create atmosphere without depending on what words actually mean  :)

Of course, understanding the language adds (a whole lot) to the atmosphere, but in a poem there is something beyond meaning.