💡 Meaning & story
Composed by Mohammad Farooq
written by Ashfaq Ahmad Saim
This is an extraordinarily beautiful, enchanting and emotionally rich ghazal, in which the beginning of love, its sweetness, memories and then the bitterness of a relationship's end are described with great simplicity and depth.
She remained accessible to me for a long time, I remained her choice for a long time.
Explanation: In this opening couplet, the poet recalls the beauty of time gone by. He says there was a time when my beloved was always present for me and I was her greatest preference. This verse reminds us of the time when love was at its peak.
She looked back at me once, then restlessness lingered in my eyes for a long time.
Explanation: The effect of the beloved's one glance is described. As she departed or left, when the beloved looked back just once, that single gaze created such turmoil and unease in my heart and mind that peace and sleep vanished from the poet's eyes for a long time.
The fragrance too was imprisoned in the web of words, in the letter there remained a rose for a long time.
Explanation: This verse mentions old letters and tokens of love. In the letter that came from the beloved, a rose was enclosed which withered with time, but its fragrance remained forever imprisoned among those words filled with love. This is a beautiful metaphor for preserving old memories.
Weariness of interpretation spread across her face, a dream lingered on my eyelids for a long time.
Explanation: The poet kept a dream of living with the beloved in his eyes for a very long time. But when that dream was tried to be made real, the journey and circumstances of the world were so harsh that the exhaustion of that struggle became evident on his face.
In the beginning, love's etiquette was this too: I was you, you were sir for a long time.
Explanation: This is a very lovely and truthful verse of the ghazal. The poet speaks of the modesty, formality and respect that exists at the beginning of love. At first, both used to address each other with great courtesy, calling each other "you" and "sir." This is a beautiful reflection of the initial and innocent phase of love.
Like rain she poured down upon me, becoming a cloud she rained for a long time.
Explanation: Cloud means 'clouds.' This verse speaks of the beloved's boundless attention, love (or perhaps her anger and tears). She came like a cloud and rained upon the poet for a long time, that is, she continued to express her emotions freely and fully.
Then until morning the stars remained on the roof, the moonlight lingered in the window for a long time.
Explanation: The poet has compared the beloved's beauty to the moon. The beloved sat in the window for so long that it felt as though the stars remained on the roof all night. This is an account of a long, beautiful and sleepless night when the beloved was present.
At her question all words died, the answer remained in tears for a long time.
Explanation: The beloved asked such a piercing or emotional question (perhaps about the reason for separation or the truth of the relationship) that the poet had no words left to speak. His tongue fell silent and tears flowing from his eyes answered that question for a long time.
She counted all the favors she had done me and then the reckoning remained on my fingertips for a long time.
Explanation: In this closing couplet, a bitter truth of a relationship's end is stated. As the beloved left, she enumerated her love and sacrifices as favors, after which the poet spent a long time calculating these obligations on his fingertips. This verse expresses the pain of a broken heart and the hurt caused by someone holding their kindness over you.
The Essence
This ghazal is a touching and true story of the entire journey from the sweetness and shyness of love's beginning to the bitterness of a relationship's end and the pain of having favors held against you.
Lyrics & Meaning