Mirza Ghalib
be-e’tidaliyon se subuk sab men ham hue
jitne ziyada ho gae utne hi kam hue
intemperance reduced my stature midst of company
the more excess I perpetrated, less I seemed to be
pinhan tha daam sakht qarib ashiyan ke
udne na paae the ki giraftar ham hue
the net was laid concealed so very close there to my nest
not even had started to fly that came under arrest
hasti hamari apni fana par dalil hai
yaan tak mite ki aap ham apni qasam hue
my own life is a testament to my mortality
to this extent was I erased, myself I swear on me
sakhti kashan-e-ishq ki puchhe hai kya khabar
vo log rafta rafta sarapa alam hue
what do you ask of people those, that in love hardships bear
they, by degrees from head to toe, as grief themselves appear
teri vafa se kya ho talafi ki dahr men
tere siva bhi ham pe bahut se sitam hue
me, in this world, your constancy, what compense can provide
for, on me, many cruelties are present, yours aside
likhte rahe junun ki hikayat-e-khun-chakan
har-chand is men haath hamare qalam hue
I kept on writing bleeding tales of madness undeterred
even though in this exercise my hands were then severed
allah re teri tundi-e-khu jis ke biim se
ajza-e-nala dil men mire rizq-e-ham hue
O lord your fierceness is such, that in it’s very dread
ingredients of heart’s complaints, upon themselves all fed
ahl-e-havas ki fath hai tark-e-nabard-e-ishq
jo paanv uth gae vahi un ke alam hue
in giving up the war of love, is lover’s victory
because those feet that turn away, their standards seem to be
naale adam men chand hamare supurd the
jo vaan na khinch sake so vo yaan aa ke dam hue
a few plaints were entrusted me, ere time of life and death
those there I couldn’t draw upon, I draw them here as breath
chhodi ‘asad’ na ham ne gadai men dil-lagi
saail hue to ashiq-e-ahl-e-karam hue
Asad romance could not forswear, e’en when a mendicant
began loving the generous ones, when turned a supplicant
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