Mirza Asadullah Khan Ghalib:
Please visit A Desertful of Roses
Yeh Na Thi Hamaari Kismat
yeh na thi hamaari qismat ke visaal-e-yaar hotaa,
agar aur jeete rahte yehi intizaar hotaa.
tere waade par jiye ham, to yeh jaan jhooT jaanaa,
ke khushi se mar na jaate agar atbaar hotaa.
tire naazukii se jaanaa kih bandhaa thaa `ahd bodaa
kabhii tuu nah toR saktaa agar ustavaar hotaa
koi mere dil se puchhe tere tiir-e-niim kash ko,
ye khalish kahaan se hoti jo jigar ke paar hotaa.
yeh kahan ki dosti hai ke bane hai dost naasih
koi chaara saaz hotaa, koi ghamgusaar hotaa
rag-e-sang se tapakta, vah lahu, ke phir na thamta
jise gham samajh rahe ho, yeh agar sharaar hota
gham agarche jaan gusal hai pe kahan bachen ke dil hai
gham-e-ishq gar na hotaa, gham-e-rozgaar hotaa.
kahun kis se main ke kya hai, shab-e-gham buri bala hai
mujhe kya bura tha marna agar ek bar hotaa.
hue mar ke ham jo ruswa, hue kyon na gharq-e-daryaa,
na kabhi janaazah uThtaa, na kahin mazaar hotaa.
use kaun dekh sakta, ke yagaana hai voh yaktaa
jo duii ki buu bhi hotii, to kahiin do chaar hotaa.
yeh masaail-e-tasawaf, yeh tera bayaan, Ghaalib,
tujhe ham walii samajhte jo na baada khwaar hotaa.
For translations over the years
For literal, accurate translation and explication there can be no better place than Professor Frances Pritchett's wonderful website -- the universe's definitive resource on Ghalib's Urdu work
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Sonny (Sundeep Dougal) Holden Caulfield, New Delhi, INDIA