Verse 49 - Luddan's wives bring Ranjha to the boat

Luddan's wives grab Ranjha by the arms and bring him to their husband's boat, where he is shown to a luxurious bed, which is reserved for Heer, the daughter of Chuchak, the chief of the Sial tribe. Heer is known to be a beauty with a tempestuous temperament. In this verse, replete with Biblical and Quranic references, Ranjha's being brought to the boat is compared to Adam's re-entry into the Garden of Eden after his fall. Here Waris Shah is staking out his position on Adam's fall being blamed on Eve, for his Adam, Ranjha, rather than being led to his doom by a woman, is restored to the garden, respresnted by Heer's opulent chamber and bed, by women. More metaphors follow as Ranjha's boarding the boat is compared to the fallen angel Azazeel's dream of being readmited into Paradise. Azazeel, in the Quranic context, was the name of Iblis or Satan before his fall and his dream is used as a metaphor for Ranjha's spiritual progress which has been set into motion through the act of leaving home. Reviled as a wastrel, a dandy and a womanizer by his sisters-in-law, it is telling that the start of Ranjha's transformation is facilitated by Luddan's wives, women, who can see somethign in him that the world yet cannot. As Ranjha is being takento the boat, wading through the water, his immersion in the river is presented as a metaphor for his spiritual purification. The promised prize is existence on a higher spiritual plane, epitomized by the haughty Heer's bed.