POEM · PERMANENT EDITION

Mir Taqi Mir آب حیواں نہیں گوارا ہم کو Aab-e-haiwan nahin gawara hum ko ●sher 1 of 2

آب حیواں نہیں گوارا ہم کو

Aab-e-haiwan nahin gawara hum ko

کس گھاٹ محبت نے اتارا ہم کو

Kis ghaat mohabbat ne utara hum ko

The Water of Life is not pleasing to us.
To what shore has love brought us?

دریا دریا تھا شوق بوسہ لیکن

Darya darya tha shauq-e-bosa lekin

جاں بخش لب یار نے مارا ہم کو

Jan-bakhsh lab-e-yar ne mara hum ko

Immense was the longing for a kiss, but...
The beloved's life-giving lips struck us dead.

Context

This Urdu couplet exemplifies the classical ghazal tradition, where intense, often paradoxical, expressions of love and devotion are central. The lover rejects the mythical Water of Life (Aab-e Hayvan), preferring the profound experience love has brought, no matter how challenging. The second couplet employs a common ghazal trope: the beloved's 'life-giving' lips, despite their inherent vitality, metaphorically 'kill' the lover, symbolizing an overwhelming spiritual or emotional impact that transcends mere physical existence, often alluding to the ecstatic annihilation of the self in divine or earthly love.