Poet
Mirza Ghalib
Pen Name(s)
Asad, Ghalib
Translation in Rhyme
No more can I in love’s sweet fire, confide,
That cherished heart, once beaming, now denied.
I leave, scars of a regretful life, a heavy loan,
A fading lamp, in crowds, I can’t be shown.
Seek, oh heart, another path to end this breath,
No more worth the trouble of my killer’s cruel death.
Desire has unveiled beauty’s hidden face,
No barrier remains, save for love’s own grace.
Though life’s cruel burdens on my shoulders weigh,
Never once did I forget you, come night or day.
The heart, once filled with deeds, now void within,
All I gained was longing’s constant spin.
Oh Asad, love’s injustices don’t shake my steady grasp,
But alas, that proud heart, now slipped from my clasp.
Translation in Prose
I am no longer worthy of expressing my desire for love
That graceful heart I was so proud of, I no longer possess
I depart carrying the scars1 of life’s regrets
I am an extinguishing lamp, unsuitable for being lit in the assembly
Oh heart, find some alternate means for death
I am no longer worthy of the trouble that my killer’s strike takes
Desire has cut asunder the veils of beauty
Aside from the glance itself, there remains no hindrance
Though I remain burdened by the cruelties of life
Not once did I ever neglect to keep you in my thoughts
The heart became devoid of the breeze of performance for therein
I attained nothing other than the desire for attainment
Oh Asad, I am not afraid of injustices of love but alas
That graceful heart I was so proud of, I no longer possess
Transliteration
arz-e-niyāz-e-ishq ke qābil nahīṇ rahā
jis dil pe nāz thā mujhe vo dil nahīṇ rahā
jāṭā huṇ dāgh-e-hasrat-e-hastī liye hue
hūṇ sham-e-kushtā dar-{khur-e-mehfil nahīṇ rahā
marne kī ai dil aur hī tadbīr kar ki maiṇ
shayān-e-dast-o-bāzū-e-qātil nahīṇ rahā
vā kar diye haiṇ shauq ne band-e-naqāb-e-husn
ghair-az-nigāh ab koī hā-il nahīṇ rahā
go maiṇ rahā rahīn-e-sitam-hā-e-rozgār
lekin tire khayāl se ghāfil nahīṇ rahā
dil se havā-e-kisht-e-vafā mit ga.ī ke vāṇ
hāsil sivā-e-hasrat-e-hāsil nahīṇ rahā
bedād-e-ishq se nahīṇ dartā magar Asad
jis dil pe nāz thā mujhe vo dil nahīṇ rahā