dil hi to hai na sang-o-khisht dard se bhar na aae kyun
roenge hum hazar bar koi hamein satae kyun

it's just a heart, no stony shard why shouldn't it fill with pain
i will cry a thousand times,why should someone complain?

dair nahin haram nahin dar nahin aastan nahin
baithe hain rahguzar pe hum ghair hamein uthae kyun

neither door nor threshold 'tis, no temple 'tis nor mosque
why should rivals bid me leave? the street's public domain

jab wo jamal-e-dil-faroz surat-e-mehr-e-nim-roz
aap hi ho nazara-soz parde mein munh chhupae kyun

when she has a lustrous face, as bright as the sun at noon
a burning spectacle is she, why veiled does she remain?

dashna-e-ghamza jaan-sitan nawak-e-naz be-panah
tera hi aks-e-rukh sahi samne tere aae kyun

dagger-like glances, arrow-like airs, fatal well could be
thus even from facing you, your image should refrain

qaid-e-hayat o band-e-gham asl mein donon ek hain
maut se pahle aadmi gham se najat pae kyun

prison of life and sorrow's chains in truth are just the same
then relief from pain, ere death,why should man obtain

husn aur us pe husn-e-zan rah gai bul-hawas ki sharm
apne pe e'timad hai ghair ko aazmae kyun

beauty and its self-esteem did spare my rival shame
when she is self-confident, in testing him what gain?

wan wo ghurur-e-izz-o-naz yan ye hijab-e-pas-e-waza'
rah mein hum milen kahan bazm mein wo bulae kyun

she won't call me to her house, by the wayside i can't meet
she is proud of name and grace, and i by form refrain

han wo nahin khuda-parast jao wo bewafa sahi
jis ko ho din o dil aziz us ki gali mein jae kyun

let her a non-believer be, unfaithful too, and therefore
if you value faith and heart, then from her street abstain

'ghaalib'-e-khasta ke baghair kaun se kaam band hain
roiye zar zar kya kijiye hae hae kyun

in poor ghalib's absence say, what tasks are stopped today
then why shed such copious tears, why lament in vain?