Home | September '98 Index

We are back to the one topic which forms the heart of Urdu poetry - 
love. Unrequited love has been the topic for many a poet, and 
everyone has their own way of dealing with it. Ghalib, even when 
talking of the immense pain caused by the thoughtlessness of the fair 
one, never fails to leave the reader with a sense of hope, that no 
matter how bad things may seem, not all is lost. Unlike Meer, whose 
air of melancholy never allows hope to even raise its head, Ghalib 
talks of love in more optimistic terms. There is no lessening of 
effect, but the difference lies in the mood of the reader after s/he 
is done reading. Meer seems to be have no control over being in love. 
One gets the feeling that if he could, he would free himself of the 
affliction, for that is what he perceives love to be. Ghalib, on the 
other hand, plunges into the depths knowingly. He does not ever make 
the reader feel that if he could, he would rather not be in love. 

nahii.n ki mujhako qayaamat kaa etiqaad nahii.n
shab-e-firaaq se roz-e-jazaa ziyaad nahii.n

[qayaamat = day of judgement; etiqaad = trust/have faith in]
[shab-e-firaaq = night of separation; roz-e-jazaa = day of judgement]
[ziyaad = more than]

ko_ii kahe ki shab-e-mah  me.n kyaa buraa_ii hai
balaa se aaj agar din ko abr-o-baad nahii.n

[shab-e-mah = moonlit night; abr-o-baad = cloud and wind]

jo aauu.N saamane un ke to marahabaa na kahe.n
jo jaauu.N vaa.N se kahii.n ko, to Khairabaad nahii.n

[marahabaa = an exclamation indicating extreme pleasure; Khairabaad = to bid farewell]

kabhii jo yaad bhii aataa huu.N mai.n to kahate hai.n
ke aaj bazm me.n kuchh fitnaa-o-fasaad nahii.n

[fitnaa = mischief; fasaad = fight/riot/uproar]

alaavaa iid ke milatii hai aur din bhii sharaab
gadaa-e-kuuchaa-e-maiKhaanaa naamuraad nahii.n

[gadaa = beggar; kuuchaa = streets; naamuraad = unrewarded]

jahaa.N me.n ho Gam-o-shaadii baham, hame.n kyaa kaam
diyaa hai hamako Khudaa ne vo dil ke shaad nahii.n

[Gam-o-shaadii = sadness and happiness; baham = next to each other]

tum un ke vaade zikr un se kyuu.N karo "Ghalib"
ye kyaa ke tum kaho aur vo kahe.n ke yaad nahii.n