bas-ki dushwar hai har kaam ka aasan hona

bas-ki dushwar hai har kaam ka aasan hona
aadmi ko bhi muyassar 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
wae-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 ba'd us ne jafa se tauba
hae us zud-pasheman 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