POEM · PERMANENT EDITION

Mirza Ghalib جن لوگوں کو ہے مجھ سے عداوت گہری Jin logon ko hai mujh se adāvat gaharī ●sher 1 of 2

جن لوگوں کو ہے مجھ سے عداوت گہری

Jin logon ko hai mujh se adāvat gaharī

کہتے ہیں مجھے وہ رافضی و دہری

Kahte hain mujhe vo rāfizī o dehrī

Those people who bear deep enmity towards me,
They call me Rafidhi and Dahri.

دہری کیونکر ہو جو کہ ہووے صوفی؟

Dehrī kyūṅkar ho jo ke hove sūfī?

شیعی کیونکر ہو ماوراء النہری

Shīʿī kyūṅkar ho māvarāʾ un-naharī

How can one be a Dahri who is a Sufi?
How can one be a Shia from Transoxiana?

Context

This poem expresses a poet's defense against religious accusations. The speaker is slandered as a "Rafizi" (a derogatory term for a Shi'a Muslim) and a "Dahri" (an atheist or materialist). The poet refutes these claims by asserting his identity as a Sufi, which contradicts the accusation of atheism, and by referencing his origin from Transoxiana (Māwara'an-Nahrī), a region historically associated with Sunni Islam, thereby challenging the "Rafizi" label. It reflects common sectarian polemics and the defense of one's spiritual and religious identity in historical Islamic contexts.