Mirza Ghalib
bas-ki dushvar hai har kaam ka asan hona
aadmi ko bhi mayassar nahin insan hona
tis difficult that every goal be easily complete
For a man, too, to be human, is no easy feat
girya chahe hai kharabi mire kashane ki
dar o divar se tapke hai bayaban hona
My tears seek destruction of my humble abode
My hearth and home relentlessly does wilderness erode
va-e-divangi-e-shauq ki har dam mujh ko
aap jaana udhar aur aap hi hairan hona
Such is desire’s lunacy, I constantly repair
to her street, even tho it leads me to despair
jalva az-bas-ki taqaza-e-nigah karta hai
jauhar-e-aina bhi chahe hai mizhgan hona
Beauty does yet seek behold the favour of a glance
the lustre of the mirror seeks to be a lash perchance
ishrat-e-qatl-gah-e-ahl-e-tamanna mat puchh
id-e-nazzara hai shamshir ka uryan hona
Ask not the delight of those for martyrdom who wait
Unsheathing of the sword for them is cause to celebrate
le gae khaak men ham dagh-e-tamanna-e-nashat
tu ho aur aap ba-sad-rang-e-gulistan hona
With me into dust I took the scars of hopes forlorn
Now in your splendour joyously the garden you adorn
ishrat-e-para-e-dil zakhm-e-tamanna khana
lazzat-e-rish-e-jigar gharq-e-namak-dan hona
When the heart is wounded does its ecstacy exalt
Fortitude is filled with joy when wounds are dipped in salt
ki mire qatl ke baad us ne jafa se tauba
haae us zud-pashiman ka pasheman hona
After she had slain me then from torture she forswore
Alas! the one now quickly shamed was not so before
haif us chaar girah kapde ki qismat ‘ghalib’
jis ki qismat men ho ashiq ka gareban hona
Ghalib alas! that piece of cloth for whom destiny
Has ordained a fate that it, a lover’s collar be
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