bas-ki dushwar hai har kaam ka aasan hona
aadmi ko bhi mayassar nahin insan hona

tis difficult that every goal be easily complete
for a man, too, to be human, is no easy feat

girya chahe hai kharabi mere kashane ki
dar o diwar se tapke hai bayaban hona

my tears seek destruction of my humble abode
my hearth and home relentlessly does wilderness erode

wa-e-diwangi-e-shauq ki har dam mujh ko
aap jaana udhar aur aap hi hairan hona

such is desire's lunacy, i constantly repair
to her street, even tho it leads me to despair

jalwa az-bas-ki taqaza-e-nigah karta hai
jauhar-e-aina bhi chahe hai mizhgan hona

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-tamanna mat puchh
id-e-nazzara hai shamshir ka uryan hona

ask not the delight of those for martyrdom who wait
unsheathing of the sword for them is cause to celebrate

le gae khak mein hum dagh-e-tamanna-e-nashat
tu ho aur aap ba-sad-rang-e-gulistan hona

with me into dust i took the scars of hopes forlorn
now in your splendour joyously the garden you adorn

ishrat-e-para-e-dil zakhm-e-tamanna khana
lazzat-e-rish-e-jigar gharq-e-namak-dan hona

when the heart is wounded does its ecstacy exalt
fortitude is filled with joy when wounds are dipped in salt

ki mere qatl ke baad us ne jafa se tauba
hae us zud-pashiman ka pasheman hona

after she had slain me then from torture she forswore
alas! the one now quickly shamed was not so before

haif us chaar girah kapde ki qismat 'ghaalib'
jis ki qismat mein ho aashiq ka gareban hona

ghalib alas! that piece of cloth for whom destiny
has ordained a fate that it, a lover's collar be