Danger lurks, lest the bond of love become a fatal vein,
Pride in friendship is a peril, lest it turn into enmity.
Ghalib, consider the stunted growth in this season,
If the flower fails to become a robe for the cypress's height.
This ghazal by Ghalib intricately explores the paradoxical dangers within close human relationships. The first couplet cautions that the bond of love can become a peril, akin to a noose, and that excessive pride in friendship can transform an ally into an adversary. The second couplet, addressed to Ghalib himself, uses the poignant metaphor of a rose failing to adorn the cypress's stature to lament a perceived lack of growth or artistic fulfillment during a specific period, a common theme reflecting existential introspection in his poetry.
wonder & existence · the world's unfairness (shikwa) · grief (gham)