Couplet V

The fifth couplet of Ghalib's ghazal 'Dard minnat-kashey dawa na hua' is as follows

                              'Hai Khabar garm un ke aaney ki,
                               Aaj hi ghar me boriya na hua;'

It is a peculiar situation. It is hot news that Ghalib's beloved is coming. There is no hint as to where is he/she coming.

Everyone must be knowing the fact that Ghalib was a 'happy go lucky' person or a poet of epicurean temperament subsisting on whatever he could get but he gave priority to liquor. A person who is described in urdu literature as a ' faaqa-e-mast' person.

The next line hints at where the beloved is to come-the rendezvous. It is Ghalib's home. The poet rues the fact that he does not even have the minimum of furniture so that the beloved may  comfortably sit on.

The poet refers to the word 'boriya'. In our parlance a 'bora' is a sack made of matted jute and even today this jute sack is spread on the ground in rural homes where people sit cross legged.

Visualize a situation where a person important in the eyes of the protagonist is to visit his home and the host has not even a jute mat for the person to sit. You can easily understand the mental state of the host. He will cut a sorry figure before the guest.

This is what has been said in the couplet.