Of all the poems we have read so far in the course, this is one that shows a large amount of emotion as he is showing his sadness and remorse for his son who died. This was a poem that Ghalib had written to mourn his adopted son’s death. He includes the names of his son and the friend who had fought with his son, making it more personal and realistic. It is noted that the adopted son and wife died prematurely, so Ghalib did not have a lot of time with his son. He says “You arrived yesterday–/ and, now, today you say, / ”I’m leaving.”/ I agree that staying forever isn’t good – but stay with us for a few more days” (Lines 12-17). He truly mourns the death of his son since they didn’t have much time together since his son passed away before he did.
Most of Ghalib’s poems have some sort of indirect reference to his god or some holy figure, but in this poem (elegy), he seems to be questioning the actions of the divine. He later questions why Arif had to die so young and says “O wise and and ancient sky/…/what would have gone so wrong / if he hadn’t died/ for a few more days?” (Lines 25-30). He doesn’t directly talk to his God, but it’s as if he questions his God as to why his son had to die so early. He also questions Death by saying “couldn’t Death have been / bribed and dissuaded / from pressing His case for a few more days?” (lines 39-42). He is not just questioning his God, but also Death as to why his son had to die so prematurely.
Instead of asking that his son not die, Ghalib asks “for a few more days” (Line 30). Ghalib is asking simply for a few more days, which shows that he himself knows that death is unavoidable. However, he wants that little bit of time to be with his son. The last line of every stanza ends with “for a few more days,” except for the fourth stanza where he ends it with “on one more day.” He references to the day called Doomsday, where Allah will call the living and dead for judgment.
The entire poem relays his regret and sadness over his son’s death, mostly referring to the fact that they weren’t together for long so he couldn’t build a strong bond. Despite not having a strong bond, he is still extremely heartbroken and ends the poem saying “it’s my destiny / to continue to wish for death / for a few more days” (Lines 58-60). He is saying that that he mourns his son’s death for several days, wishing that he will die but only for a few days. Perhaps after that period, he will move on and live his life and eventually forget or move past his son’s death.