((ishq ne ;xvaar-o-zaliil kiyaa ham sar ko bikhere phirte hai;N
soz-o-dard-o-daa;G-o-alam sab jii ko ghere phirte hai;N

1) passion made us vile and low; [in a state of] having disheveled our head/hair, we wander around
2) burning and pain and wounds and sorrow-- [in a state of] having surrounded the inner-self, they circle/roll around



phirnaa : 'To turn, go round, revolve, whirl; to circulate; to turn back, to return; to walk, walk about, walk to and fro; to wander, rove, ramble, stroll; to travel; to turn over, to roll; to turn away, to turn ... ; to change; to turn aside, to deviate, wander; to turn, bend, become distorted or crooked, to warp'. (Platts p.286)

S. R. Faruqi:

The opening-verse is by way of an introduction, but 'to dishevel the head' (meaning 'to dishevel the hair') is a very fresh idiom. Most dictionaries turned out not to have it, but it's certainly in farhang-e aa.sifiyah . Then, bikhernaa is also interesting in its affinity with ghere phirnaa in the second line.



Note for grammar and translation fans: The rhyme in this ghazal lends itself to masculine plural perfect participles, which are often used adverbially. In translation, these are likely to resemble kar constructions. In Urdu, however, there remains a subtle difference Forsar ko bikher kar phirnaa means 'having disheveled the head, to wander around'. This is a straightforward sequence of two actions (e.g., 'We want to dishevel our head and wander around'). In contrast, sar ko bikhere phirnaa means 'in a state of having disheveled the head, to wander around' (e.g., 'We want to wander around with our head disheveled'). It envisions a steady state (through the participle) in which an action (the main verb) is performed. Are these subtle distinctions worth trying to retain in translation? Maybe, maybe not, depending on the kind of translation. Are they worth thoroughly understanding in your own mind, for analytical purposes? You betcha.