Heart of the Ghazal: 30 Urdu Poems + Trans

Dil-e-naadaan tujhe hua kya hai?
Aakhir is dard ki dawa kya hai? (Ghalib)
O foolish heart, what has happened to you?
Ultimately, what is the cure for this pain?

Ranjish hi sahi dil hi dukhaane ke liye aa
Aa phir se mujhe chhor ke jaane ke liye aa. (Ahmad Faraz)
Let it be resentment, come just to hurt my heart;
Come again, to leave me once more.

Tere waade par jiye hum toh yeh jaan jhoot jaana
Ke khushi se mar na jaate agar e’tibaar hota. (Ghalib)
If I lived on your promise, know this to be a lie;
For I would have died of happiness if I had trusted it.

Woh aaye bazm mein itna toh Mir ne dekha
Phir us ke baad charaaghon mein raushni na rahi. (Mir Dard)
She came to the assembly, Mir saw that much;
After that, there was no light left in the lamps.

Ab ke hum bichhde toh shaayad kabhi khwaabon mein milein
Jis tarah sookhe hue phool kitaabon mein milein. (Ahmad Faraz)
If we part this time, perhaps we’ll meet in dreams,
Just as dried flowers are found in books.

Koi ummeed bar nahin aati
Koi soorat nazar nahin aati. (Ghalib)
No hope is fulfilled,
No solution is in sight.

Dil dhadakne ka sabab yaad aaya
Woh teri yaad thi ab yaad aaya. (Nasir Kazmi)
The reason for the heart’s beating came to mind;
It was your memory, now I remember.

Hum ko achha nahin lagta koi hum-naam tera
Koi tujh sa ho toh phir naam bhi tujh sa rakhe. (Parveen Shakir)
I don’t like anyone with the same name as yours;
If someone is like you, then they should also have a name like yours.

Patta patta boota boota haal hamara jaane hai
Jaane na jaane gul hi na jaane baagh toh saara jaane hai. (Mir Taqi Mir)
Every leaf, every plant knows my condition;
Whether the rose knows or not, the whole garden knows.

Wasl mein rang ud gaya mera
Kya judaai ko munh dikhaaoonga. (Ahmad Faraz)
My color faded in union;
What face will I show to separation?

Kaise keh doon ke mujhe chhor diya hai us ne
Baat toh sach hai magar baat hai ruswaai ki. (Ahmad Faraz)
How can I say that she has left me?
The matter is true, but it’s a matter of disgrace.

Tere hote hue mehfil mein jalaate hain charaagh
Log kya saada hain sooraj ko dikhaate hain charaagh. (Ahmad Faraz)
While you are present, they light lamps in the assembly;
How naive people are, they show lamps to the sun.

Yeh na thi hamari qismat ke wisaal-e-yaar hota
Agar aur jeete rehte yahi intezaar hota. (Ghalib)
It was not my destiny to unite with the beloved;
Had I lived longer, this waiting would have continued.

Ab tujhe kya koi dekhega ke dekha hi nahin
Husn jab tak na ho mashooq nazar aata nahin. (Ahmad Faraz)
Now, why would anyone look at you when they haven’t seen (your inner beauty)?
Until there is beauty (of character), the beloved is not seen.

Ishq qaatil se bhi, maqtool se humdardi bhi
Yeh bata kis se mohabbat ki jazaa maangega. (Iqbal)
Love sides with the killer, and sympathizes with the slain,
Tell me, from whom will it seek the reward of love?

Karunga kya jo mohabbat mein ho gaya naakaam
Mujhe toh aur koi kaam bhi nahin aata. (Ahmad Faraz)
What will I do if I fail in love?
I don’t even know any other work.

Dil munaafiq tha shab-e-hijr mein soya kaisa
Aur jab tujh se mila toot ke roya kaisa. (Ahmad Faraz)
The heart was hypocritical, how did it sleep on the night of separation?
And when it met you, how it broke down and wept.

Yeh ishq nahin aasaan itna hi samajh leeje
Ik aag ka dariya hai aur doob ke jaana hai. (Jigar Moradabadi)
This love is not easy, just understand this much;
It is a river of fire, and one must drown to cross it.

Zindagi zinda dili ka naam hai
Murda dil kya khaak jiya karte hain. (Imam Bakhsh Nasikh)
Life is the name of being lively;
What life do the dead-hearted live?

Hum bhi kya saada thay hum ne bhi samajh rakha tha
Gham-e-dauraan se judaa hai gham-e-jaanaan jaanaan. (Faiz Ahmad Faiz)
How naive I was, I too had assumed,
That the sorrow of the beloved is separate from the sorrows of the world, O beloved.

Silsile tod gaya woh sabhi jaate jaate
Warna itne toh maraasim thay ke aate jaate. (Ahmad Faraz)
He broke all connections as he was leaving;
Otherwise, there were enough relations that we would visit each other.

Aaina dekh apna sa munh le ke reh gaye
Saahab ko dil na dene pe kitna ghuroor tha. (Sauda)
Looking in the mirror, he was left with a downcast face;
How much pride the master had in not giving his heart!

Tere ishq ki intiha chaahta hoon
Miri saadgi dekh kya chaahta hoon. (Iqbal)
I desire the ultimate limit of Your love;
Look at my simplicity, what is it that I desire?

Woh toh khushboo hai hawaaon mein bikhar jaayega
Masla phool ka hai phool kidhar jaayega. (Ahmad Faraz)
He is a fragrance, he will spread in the winds;
The problem is of the flower, where will the flower go?

Kitna aasaan tha tere hijr mein marna jaanaan
Phir bhi ik umr lagi jaan se jaate jaate. (Jaun Elia)
How easy it was to die in your separation, beloved,
Yet it took a lifetime for life to finally depart.

Ab use roz na sochoon toh badan tootta hai Faraz
Umr guzri hai us ki yaad ka nasha kiye hue. (Ahmad Faraz)
Now, if I don’t think of her daily, my body breaks, Faraz;
A lifetime has passed being intoxicated by her memory.

Qatl-e-Hussain asl mein marg-e-Yazeed hai
Islam zinda hota hai har Karbala ke baad. (Maulana Mohammad Ali Jauhar)
The martyrdom of Hussain is, in reality, the death of Yazid;
Islam is revived after every Karbala.

Hum ne jis jis ko bhi chaaha tere hijraan mein woh log
Aate jaate hue mausam thay zamaana tu tha. (Ahmad Faraz)
Whomever I loved in your separation, those people
Were like passing seasons; the era was you.

Zindagi se yahi gila hai mujhe
Tu bahut der se mila hai mujhe. (Ahmad Faraz)
This is my complaint with life:
You met me very late.

Ishq ne Ghalib nikamma kar diya
Warna hum bhi aadmi thay kaam ke. (Ghalib)
Love has made Ghalib useless,
Otherwise, I too was a man of worth.