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Koi Umiid


koii ummiid bar nahii.n aatii
koii suurat nazar nahii.n aatii

maut kaa ek din mu'ayyaa.N hai
nii.nd kyo.n raat bhar nahii.n aatii

aage aatii thii haal-e-dil pe ha.Nsii
ab kisii baat par nahii.n aatii

jaanataa huu.N savaab-e-taa'at-o-zahad
par tabiiyat idhar nahii.n aatii

hai kuchh aisii hii baat jo chup huu.N
varna kyaa baat kar nahii.n aatii

kyo.n na chiiKhuu.N ki yaad karate hai.n
merii aavaaz gar nahii.n aatii

daaG-e-dilagarnazar nahii.n aata
buu bhii ai chaaraagar nahii.n aatii

ham vahaa.N hai.n jahaa.N se ham ko bhii
kuchh hamaarii Khabar nahii.n aatii

marate hai.n aarazuu me.n marane kii
maut aatii hai par nahii.n aatii

kaabaa kis muu.Nh se jaaoge 'Ghalib'
sharm tumako magar nahii.naatii

English Translation.

I am left with no hope at all,
No possibility to reach my goal,

The Day of my death is fixed,
I am so very anxious that I can not sleep all night.

Though I know the reward of obedience and worship,
But I have no tendency for it.

I am silent for a certain reason,
Otherwise I can convince you with my words,

Why I shouldn’t cry,
For when I don’t, she asks about me,

My heart is burning, though you cannot see the spot,
But O my doctor, can’t you smell my heart burn?

I have reached to a certain state,
From where even I cannot find myself.

I am dying (Waiting anxiously) for my death,
I don’t know where the hell my death has gone.

With what face you will go to Ka’ba, O! Ghalib,
You should be ashamed of yourself while thinking to go there.



Notes

This is a Ghazal in which every couplet has independent meanings.

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Comments


  • August 5
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    Mirza Ghalib - a big thief !

    From guest Suraj Parkash (contact)
    Had Ghalib been alive, I would have honestly sued him, for I have full certainity that each one of his poems explicitly expresses my inner most secret feelings.

  • Lonely
    August 1, 2008

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    How can I forget this beautiful piece of poetry by Ghalib. It was in my exams in the urdu paper. lol. Beautiful

  • mina nagi
    August 1, 2008

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    Nice lyrics... Ghalib is one of my favourites... Last time when I visited India, I went to offer my tribute to his resting palce in Nazammudin West in Delhi.
    mina


  • May 24, 2007
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    From guest Rhonda Stevenson (contact)
    Thank you Ahkam, for this translation. Though this piece is desperately sad and lonely, it is still rich in image and beautiful in the context you've provided. Be well, Rhonda


  • Ahkam Moderators member
    May 19, 2007

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    Sad

    This is a sad Ghazal by Ghalib. The poet is hopeless and wants to die, to get rid of his miseries. The life of Ghalib was very miserable as all his children (six of them) died in early childhood and his nephew Arif, who was his adopted son also died at the age of sixteen. This is why many of his poems are sad and without hope.
    Mark Twain has once said, "Death....a great Leveler -- a king before whose tremendous majesty shades & differences in littleness cannot be discerned -- an Alp from whose summit all small things are the same size."
    - Letter to Olivia Clemens, 10/15/1871
    this poem is an interpretation of Ghalib's tragic life.

  • rhondasail
    May 19, 2007

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    Please translate these works, they are unusually beautiful and would be a blessing to those who do not speak or read Urdu. Thank you for including this poet on the Old Poetry site.