میں انہیں چھیڑوں اور کچھ نہ کہیں
چل نکلتے جو مے پیے ہوتے
I tease them and they say nothing.
They would have been stirred if they had drunk wine.
I tease them and they say nothing.
They would have been stirred if they had drunk wine.
Be it wrath or calamity, whatever it may be,
I wish you were for me.
If there was so much sorrow in my destiny,
Oh Lord, I wish I had been given many hearts.
He would have come to the right path, Ghalib,
If only we had lived a few more days.
This is a poignant ghazal by Mirza Ghalib, a towering figure in Urdu poetry, deeply rooted in the classical tradition. It expresses themes of unrequited love, deep longing, and the philosophical exploration of fate and sorrow. Ghalib's signature style, blending profound emotional depth with intellectual complexity and a touch of dramatic hyperbole, is evident as the poet laments missed opportunities, yearns for the beloved's affection, and questions the burden of grief bestowed upon him by destiny.
love & longing (ishq, judāī) · grief (gham) · the world's unfairness (shikwa)