Here’s one our Ghalib’s best GHAZALS, open to multiple interpretations and a brilliant demonstration of the complexity yet simplicity that the Urdu language offers.
Aah ko chaahiye ik umr asar hone tak
Kaun jeeta hai teri zulf ke sarr hone tak
Daam-e har mauj mein hai halqah-e-sad kaam-e-nihang
Dekhein kyaa guzre hai qatre pah guhar hone tak
Aashiqii sabr-talab aur tamannaa betaab
Dil kaa kyaa rang karuun khoon-e-jigar hone tak
Hum ne maanaa ke tagghaaful na karoge lekin
Khaak ho jayenge hum tum ko khabar hone tak
Partav-e-khur se hai shabnam ko fanaa ki taleem
Main bhii huun ek inaayat kii nazar hone tak
Yak nazar besh nahiin fursat-e hastii ghaafil
Garmii-e-bazm hai ik raqs-e-sharar hone tak
Gham-e-hastii kaa Asad kis se ho juz marg ilaaj
Shamma har rang mein jaltii hai sahar hone tak
-Mirza Ghalib
An English translation from is below:
A lifetime passes before a sigh shows its effects
Who would wait so long to see you fixing the tangles in your hair
A hundred dragon mouths create a net of waves from a single ocean
Oh what a task it is for a drop to turn into a pearl
Love needs patience but lust is restless
What color should my heart be, till it bleeds to death
I know you will not ignore me, but
By the time you know of me, I would have turned to ash
Each drop of dew is aware that it can be destroyed with the rays of the sun
I will survive similarly, till you glance at me
Your glances can bring my life to end
As dancing sparks bring an end of a fun filled gathering
Life is all suffering, Asad, it can be cured with death
The candle burns in many colors till the morning comes
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