POEM · PERMANENT EDITION

Mir Taqi Mir نہ سمجھا گیا ابر کیا دیکھ کر Na samjha gaya abr kya dekh kar ●sher 1 of 2

نہ سمجھا گیا ابر کیا دیکھ کر

Na samjha gaya abr kya dekh kar

ہوا تھا مری چشم تر کی طرف

Hua tha meri chashm-e tar ki taraf

It wasn't understood what the cloud saw.
It had turned towards my tearful eye.

ٹپکتا ہے پلکوں سے خوں متصل

Tapakta hai palkon se khoon muttasil

نہیں دیکھتے ہم جگر کی طرف

Nahin dekhte hum jigar ki taraf

Blood continuously drips from the eyelids.
We do not look towards the heart.

Context

This couplet, characteristic of classical Urdu ghazal, delves into the depths of unrequited love or profound sorrow. The imagery of a cloud turning towards tearful eyes personifies nature's empathy with human grief, while the hyperbole of blood continuously dripping from eyelids conveys an extreme, almost unbearable emotional anguish, perhaps suggesting that the external manifestation of pain is so overwhelming that one cannot even confront its internal source, the heart or liver.