bas-ki dushvār hai har kaam kā āsāñ honā
aadmī ko bhī mayassar nahīñ insāñ honā
Tis difficult that every goal be easily complete
For a man, too, to be human, is no easy feat
girya chāhe hai ḳharābī mire kāshāne kī
dar o dīvār se Tapke hai bayābāñ honā
My tears seek destruction of my humble abode
My hearth and home relentlessly does wilderness erode
vā-e-dīvāngi-e-shauq ki har dam mujh ko
aap jaanā udhar aur aap hī hairāñ honā
Such is desire’s lunacy, I constantly repair
To her street, even tho it leads me to despair
jalva az-bas-ki taqāzā-e-nigah kartā hai
jauhar-e-ā.ina bhī chāhe hai mizhgāñ honā
Beauty does yet seek behold the favour of a glance
The lustre of the mirror seeks to be a lash perchance
ishrat-e-qatl-gah-e-ahl-e-tamannā mat pūchh
īd-e-nazzāra hai shamshīr kā uryāñ honā
Ask not the delight of those for martyrdom who wait
Unsheathing of the sword for them is cause to celebrate
le ga.e ḳhaak meñ ham dāġh-e-tamannā-e-nashāt
tū ho aur aap ba-sad-rañg-e-gulistāñ honā
With me into dust I took the scars of hopes forlorn
Now in your splendour joyously the garden you adorn
ishrat-e-pāra-e-dil zaḳhm-e-tamannā khānā
lazzat-e-rīsh-e-jigar ġharq-e-namak-dāñ honā
When the heart is wounded does its ecstacy exalt
Fortitude is filled with joy when wounds are dipped in salt
kī mire qatl ke ba.ad us ne jafā se tauba
haa.e us zūd-pashīmāñ kā pashemāñ honā
After she had slain me then from torture she forswore
Alas! the one now quickly shamed was not so before
haif us chaar girah kapḌe kī qismat ‘ġhālib’
jis kī qismat meñ ho āshiq kā garebāñ honā
Ghalib alas! That piece of cloth for whom destiny
Has ordained a fate that it, a lover’s collar be
