About the poet: Mirza Asadullah Khan 'Ghalib' (b:1797 d:1869) is arguably the widest read Urdu shaayar of all times. He lived almost the whole of his life in Delhi and his love for the city is amply demonstrated in many of his works. He was the tutor of the last Mughal Emperor, Bahadur Shah Zafar and as such was very popular among the late Mughal aristocracy. A large part of his work is in Persian but it is for the relatively small collection of Urdu verse that he is universally acclaimed and loved. Ghalib was an original and innovative poet and his proud and independent spirit is reflected in his verse. His elegant Urdu letters to friends and contemporaries, many of them describing the British pillage of Delhi after 1857, are now regarded as masterpieces of early Urdu prose.
Dil hi to hai, na sang-o-khisht (It's my heart after all and not brick or stone)
Dard se bhar na aaye kyon? (Why should'nt then it well up with pain?)
Royenge hum hazaar baar (We'll weep a thousand times..)
Koi hamein sataaye kyon? (why should anybody torment us?)
Daeir nahin, Haram nahin (No temple, nor the Kaaba)
dar nahin, aastaan nahin (no shelter, not even the threshold of the house)
Baithen hain reh-guzar pe hum (we sit by the roadside)
Ghair hamein uthaaye kyon (half-expecting a stranger to help us)
Haan wo nahi khudaparast (He may be an unbeliever)
Jaao ke bewafa sahi (he may as well be unfaithful)
Jisko ho deeno-dil azeez (A person who holds faith and heart dear..)
Uski gali se jaaye kyon? (why should we venture past (such a man's) lane?)
Ghaalib-e-qhasta ke beghair (Without Ghalib-the wretched)
kaun se kaam band hain? (what work cant be completed and what tasks are unfulfilled?)
Roiye zaar zaar kya (what then for is all this weeping?)
kijiye haai-haai kyon (and all this beating of the chest?)
Chitra Singh's beautiful rendition of this ghazal can be found here:
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