my first interaction with ghalib
hain aur bhi dunia mey sukhanwar bahut achche, kehte hain ki ghalib kaa andaaz-e-bayan aur
i started reading this book which is sort of a compilation of ghalib's work, it has its translations, but i feel this as my obligation to write my interpretations of them here, because art is subjective and ghalib's biographer, altaf hussain hali admits, that a single couplet of ghalib has several layers of meanings, on that note.....
bandagi mein wo azaada-o-khud-bin hain, ki ham ulte phir aaye dar-e-kaaba agar waa na hua
even in my servitude/worship, i keep enough pride and honour, so-much-so that i'd turn around and go back from the kaaba, if the doors weren't already open for me
hua jab gham se yoon behis to gham kyaa sar ke katne ka, na hota gar juda tan se to zaanu par dhara hota
when i was anyway numb with despair, then why is it that you cry on my beheading, had my body had my head, it'd have been touching my knee, because i'd be crawled up crying
mat poochh ki kya haal hai mera tere peeche, tu dekh ki kya rang hai mera tere aage
don't ask me how have i been since you left, instead, judge my state by how you are, when you're back in front of me
partav-e-khur se hai shabnam ko fana ki taleem, main bhi hoon ek inayat ki nazar hone tak
it is because of sun that the dew is aware of the concept of destruction, cause it'll die once it comes, and so will i, after that one blessing, that miracle on earth, turns its eyes towards me
ye kahan ki dosti hai ki bane hain dost naaseh, koi chaarasaaz hota, koi gham-ghusaar hota
what is this friendship where-in every one of them has become and advisor, instead, i wish, there were some who were solution givers to make things right, and some to celebrate/share the grief with when things were on the downside
to phir na intezaar mein neend aaye umr bhar, aane ka ahd kar gaye aaye jo khwab mein
for eternity, i've lost my sleep for wait, for someone came in my dreams, when i last slept and promised of their arrival
milna tera agar nahin aasan to sahl hai, dushvaar to yahi hai ki dushvaar bhi nahin
it'd have been simple for me, if us meeting would've not been easy, the difficulty is just in the fact, that, us meeting, isn't difficult either
jala hai jism jahan dil bhi jal gaya hoga, kuredte ho jo ab raakh justjoo kya hai
when the body was cremated, with it, the heart would've burned too, but i see you're scraping the ashes, what are you looking for? in the remains of the already destruct human, you won't find anything uncracked, so why are you trying so hard?
ham ko maloom hai jannat ki haqeeqat lekin, dil ko khush rakhne ko ghalib ye khayaal achcha hai
i know that heaven doesn't exist, but the thought is a good one to keep oneself happy, to feel that there's a point of being right, that there's something even after they die, that they are doing the right thing for a reason and they'll be rewarded
dar pe rehne ko kaha aur keh ke aisa phir gaya, jitne arse mey mera lipta hua bistra khula
they asked me to stay with them, and took away their offer as soon as they thought i'll take it they asked me to be with them, and shut themselves off, as soon as they saw me falling for them
use kaun dekh sakta hai yagana hai woh yakta, jo duii ki buu bhi hoti toh kahin do-chaar hotaa
you can't find god because he's one of a kind and unique, had his personality had even an iota of duality, you'd have found 2-4 people like him you can't see god, because he's ideal and ideal doesn't exist, was he not ideal, you'd have seen him quite often
kah sake kaun ki ye jalwagari kis ki hai, parda chhoda hai wo us ne ki uthaaye na bane
one can't even know who was the person who such a veil to hide themselves that is so heavy can't even be lifted if one wanted to know the person
so this was how much i got to read in my first sprint, stay tuned for more
:))