Mirza Asadullah Baig Khan, Pen-name Ghalib … King of Urdu Poetry

When ever I listen to the lines by Mirza Asadullah Baig Khan, pen-name Ghalib(December 27, 1797 – February 15, 1869), sung beautifully by the Indian Ghazal world’s most capable and listened soloist Jagit singh, I find myself in total awe, as if struck by lightening, completely unprepared to accept that thoughts could so elegantly described and expressed through words. Here I feel the power of thoughts is mightier than the power of words. Words are not enough to express the thought process this legendary personality had running in his once in an eon born brain. I am here by scribbling few lines with meaning as I undersatand them.

Unke dekhe se jo aa jati hain yun muh par Raunak,

Wo samajhate hain ki beemaar ka haal achcha hai

This is Ghalib at his best.

If I smile looking at you you feel that I am alright, even if I am feeling pain at the core of my heart.

It shows that sometimes people require something more than a sympathizing gesture

***

Hui muddat ki Ghalib marr gaya par yaad aata hai,

Wo har ek baat pe Kehna, ki yun hota to kya hota

When I will die people will remember me (as an insane) who used to say that what would have happened if this had happened….

***

Mat pooch ke kya haal hai mera tere peeche

Tu dekh ke kya rang hai tera mere aage

Ask not what my condition is after you

See what’s your colour before me.

***

Dil hi to hai na Snag-o-khist, dard se bhar na aae kyun?

A heart after all is not stone, why must not it brim with pain … ?

***

Kahun kis se mai ke kya hai, shab-e-ghum buri bala hai

Mujhe kya bura tha marna agar ek baar hota

Whom shall I confide in the pains of a night of sorrow,

Death wouldn’t have bothered me had it just been once.

***

Hazaron khawaishein aisi ki har khawish pe dum nikale

Boht nikale mere armaan lekin phir bhi kam nikale

Mohabbat me nahi hai farq jeene aur marne kaa,

Usi ko dekh kar jeete hain, jis kaafir pe dum nikale

Nikalna khuld se adam ka sunte aae hain lekin

Bahut be aabru  ho kar, tere kuche se hum nikle

I have plethora of desire, and each desire is such as ‘to die for’’.

Desires are never ending. Even if most of them get fulfilled, we still feel unsatisfied.

Life and death in love, both are related to the beloved.

Life is the pleasure of being with the beloved and death refers to the pain of separation.

The company of the same person gives life whose betrayal gives death, so there is not much difference between life and death in love.

I had heard the expulsion of adam from paradise

But greater seemed the dishonour at my exile from your home.

***

“Hamko unse wafa ki hai umeed
Jo nahi jaante wafa kya hai

Hoping love, care and concern from someone who doesn’t even gives a damn what these words even mean actually.

***

Liye jati hai kahin ek tawaqa Ghalib

Jada rah kashish kafe karm hai hum ko

A hope pulls you along, Ghalib

Perhaps this path is the beginning of some benevolence.

***

Ah ko chahiye ik umar asar hone tak

Kaun jita hai teri zulf ke sar hone tak

A life-time for a wish to come true

But who lives till the graying of our hair.

***

Bak raha hun junoon mein jane kya kya kuch

Kuch na samjhe khuda kare koi

What all have U said in this feverish craziness

May GOD will it to be incomprehensible.

***

Ro’aiey zar zar kyaa? Kiji-e haaye haaye kyun?

Why must the heart cry for it, why must a fuss be made about it.

***

Behter tho hai yahi ken a dunya se dill age

Par kya Karen jo kaam na be-dil-lagi chale

It’s better that I do not get enchanted by this world

But I can’t get around without being enchanted.

***

Hai kuch aesi hi baat jo chup hoon

Warna kya baat kar nahin aati.

There must be something that quietens me

Other wise I do have things to say.

***

Hum wahan hain jahan se hum ko bhi

Kuchh humari khabar nahi aati

I am there from where I too do not know what befalls me.

***

Koi mere dil se pooche tere teer-e-neem kash ko

Ye khalish kahan se hoti jo jigar ke paar hota

Ask not my heart about your half-hearted shot,

It would not have ached so mush if it had traversed through

***

Dekhiye pate hain kya faiz buton se ushaq,

Ik berhamin ne kaha hai ke ye saal achha hai.

Let’s see what benefits do I get from idols of love

For a Brahmin has predicted that this year has good things in store.

***

woh firaaq aur woh wisaal kahaaN ?
woh shab-o-roz-o-maah-o-saal kahaaN ?

Long gone is the pain of  separation and meeting

There are not even such a night, day, month or year left.