Open up to us one day during wine-drinking,
Otherwise, we will tease you, feigning intoxication, one day.
Do not be proud of the height of the foundation of this possible world,
For in the destiny of this height, there is a fall one day.
We used to drink borrowed wine, but we believed that yes,
Our revelry in poverty will bear fruit one day.
Even the songs of sorrow, O heart, consider them a blessing,
This instrument of existence will become silent one day.
Rough play is not the manner of that embodiment of grace,
It was we, Ghalib, who acted presumptuously one day.
This Urdu ghazal, likely by Ghalib, embodies key themes of classical Urdu poetry, contemplating the ephemeral nature of worldly glory and human existence. It explores the intoxicating allure of love and wine, the paradoxical hope found even in destitution, and the acceptance of sorrow as an integral part of life's transient melody, culminating in a playful admission of amorous missteps.
wonder & existence · grief (gham) · love & longing (ishq, judāī)