YEH NA THI HAMARI QISMAT KAY VISAL E YAR HOOTA

Yeh na thi hamari qismat kay visal e yar hoota
Agar aur jitay rehtay yehehi intezar hoota

It was not our destiny, to meet the sweet beloved.
If more we were to live, even longer would have waited.

(Simple verse does not need much explanation.)


Teray waday par jeeyay hum toe yeh jan jhoot jana
Keh khushi say mer na jatay agar aetebaar hoota

We lived by your promise; Yet knew well that it was untrue.
We would have died of bliss, If in it we had faith too.

(The poet passed his entire life on the promises made by the beloved, though, he know that it was not true in the first place. He says if he had believed in the truthfulness of the promise he may well have died of happiness and joy.)

Taree nazuki say jana kay bundha tha eahed e booda
Kubhee tou na toarsakta agar istawaar hoota

Due to your frailty my dear, the knot was tied so subtle.
Never could you have severed it, had it but been brutal.

(The poet says that since the beloved was delicate the knots he tied too were frail. Had the tied knots been strong she would never have been able to break them.)

Koi mayray dil say poochay tarey teer e neem kash ko
Yeh khalish kahaan say hooti joe jigar kay paar hoota

Let some one enquire from my heart, about your half-drawn arrow.
Had it passed through and through, there would be no pain or sorrow.

(The beloved is supposedly firing arrows by her glances at the lover. He says that they would not be so hurtful if the glances were clear and unhesitant looks of love, for then he would perhaps not suffer so much.)

Rag e sang say tapakta who lahoo kay phir na thamta
Jisay gham sumajh rahay ho who agar sharaar hoota


The veins of stone would have shed blood unending;
What you think as sorrow had it been fire unbending.

(The hurt is ever so great, yet had the torture been more severe, even the veins of stone would have shed blood in their tears.)

Gham agarchay jaan gasal hai peh khaan bachaan keh dil hai
Gham e ishq gar na hoota gham e roozgar hoota

Though sorrow is life threatening, But, after all, the heart gets hurled.
Had there not been the pain of love, there would be worry of the world.

(The poet says that although the pain is severe yet one has no control over the heart and infatuation. For, he says, that if there were no pain and torture of love there would be the worldly woes.)

Kehhoon kis say mein kay kaya hai shab e gham buri bala hai
Mujhay kaya bura tha murna agar eik baar hoota

To who can I say what it is? The night of sorrow is a terrible thing.
I’d go willingly, if death came just once, not with repeated sting.

(The night of separation comes off and on and each time it is a terrible feeling like the suffering of death. He says he would not mind bearing it once but not repeatedly, for true death will come only once.)

Huay mur kay hum joe ruswa huay kayoon na garq dariya
Na khabi janaza uthta na kaheen mazar hoota

Why did we get ignominy in death? Were not drowned instead.
There would not be a burial, nor a grave for eternal bed.

(Simple yet so meaningful.)

Usay koan deakh sakta keh yagana hai who yakta
Joe dueeyee ki bou bhi hooti to khain doe chaar hoota

Who can see Him? He is the One, the Most Unique.
So much as thought of duality, would make Him humble and weak.

(Here the poet is describing God and says one can not draw any inference about Him as He is unique, but, had there been another like Him, He too would be fathomable and weak.)

Yeh masail e tasavoof yeh tera bayaan Ghalib
Tujhay hum wali sumhajtay joe na badah khawaar hoota

This intricate philosophy O’ Ghalib, and what a diction.
We’d consider you a saint, were it not for wine’s addiction.

(This verse shows how Ghalib could detach and see even his own self so clearly, without any inhibitions or misgivings about his actions.)