Let there be only love, neither lover nor beloved, where
Such a sanctuary of absolute unity also exists.
Spend these days with wisdom, work with a lively heart.
After old age, my dear, youth is still present.
If friends have emptied the taverns, what is there to grieve?
Even now the clouds gather, and more wine is in the jar.
Where Ghalib and Momin made their home in people's eyes,
In that very town, another ruined soul also dwells.
This Urdu ghazal explores themes of spiritual transcendence, existential optimism, and poetic legacy. It opens with a Sufi-inspired vision of pure love where the distinctions of lover and beloved vanish in divine unity. The verses then pivot to philosophical resilience, urging one to embrace life with vivacity, asserting that a spiritual 'youth' persists beyond physical aging, and that abundance will always replenish apparent losses. Concluding, the poet humbly places himself within the grand tradition of masters like Ghalib and Momin, using the classic self-deprecating trope of a 'khana kharab' to signify his own passionate yet 'ruined' poetic existence.
faith & the divine · love & longing (ishq, judāī) · wonder & existence