Ghalib’s Wit & Wisdom: 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?
Hazaaron khwahishein aisi ke har khwahish pe dam nikle
Bahut nikle mere armaan lekin phir bhi kam nikle. (Ghalib)
Thousands of desires, each worth dying for,
Many of my desires were fulfilled, yet many remained.

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

Bazeecha-e-atfaal hai duniya mere aage
Hota hai shab-o-roz tamaasha mere aage. (Ghalib)
The world is a children’s playground before me;
Day and night, this spectacle unfolds before me.

Ragon mein daudte phirne ke hum nahin qaail
Jab aankh hi se na tapka toh phir lahu kya hai. (Ghalib)
We are not convinced of blood merely coursing through veins;
If it doesn’t drip from the eye, then what kind of blood is it?

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.

Hain aur bhi duniya mein sukhan-war bahut achhe
Kehte hain ke Ghalib ka hai andaaz-e-bayaan aur. (Ghalib)
There are many other good poets in the world,
But they say Ghalib’s style of expression is unique.

Kaaba kis munh se jaaoge Ghalib
Sharm tum ko magar nahin aati. (Ghalib)
With what face will you go to Kaaba, Ghalib?
Though shame does not seem to come to you.

Maut ka ek din mu’ayyan hai
Neend kyun raat bhar nahin aati? (Ghalib)
The day of death is appointed,
Why then does sleep not come all night?

Unke dekhe se jo aa jaati hai munh par raunaq
Woh samajhte hain ke beemaar ka haal achha hai. (Ghalib)
The radiance that appears on my face upon seeing them,
They think the patient’s condition is good.

Muddat hui hai yaar ko mehmaan kiye hue
Josh-e-qadah se bazm charaaghaan kiye hue. (Ghalib)
It has been long since I hosted my beloved,
Long since the assembly was lit by the fervor of the wine cup.

Humko maalum hai jannat ki haqeeqat lekin
Dil ke khush rakhne ko Ghalib yeh khayaal achha hai. (Ghalib)
I know the reality of Paradise, but
To keep the heart happy, Ghalib, this thought is good.

Na tha kuch toh Khuda tha, kuch na hota toh Khuda hota
Duboya mujh ko hone ne, na hota main toh kya hota? (Ghalib)
When there was nothing, God was; if nothing existed, God would be.
My existence drowned me; if I did not exist, what would have been?

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.

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.

Qarz ki peete thay mai lekin samajhte thay ke haan
Rang laavegi hamari faaqa masti ek din. (Ghalib)
I used to drink wine on credit, but understood that yes,
Our joyful destitution would bear fruit one day.

Aah ko chaahiye ik umr asar hone tak
Kaun jeeta hai teri zulf ke sar hone tak. (Ghalib)
A sigh needs a lifetime to have an effect;
Who lives long enough to conquer your tresses?

Bas ke dushwaar hai har kaam ka aasaan hona
Aadmi ko bhi mayassar nahin insaan hona. (Ghalib)
It is so difficult for every task to become easy;
Even for a human, it is not readily available to be truly human.

Dard minnat kash-e-dawa na hua
Main na achha hua bura na hua. (Ghalib)
The pain did not become indebted to medicine;
I neither got well nor did I become worse (or it wasn’t bad that it happened).

Ghalib-e-khasta ke baghair kaun se kaam band hain
Roiiye zaar zaar kya, keejiye haaye haaye kyun? (Ghalib)
Without the wretched Ghalib, what tasks are left undone?
Why weep so bitterly, why lament so much?

Woh firaaq aur woh wisaal kahaan
Woh shab-o-roz-o-maah-o-saal kahaan. (Ghalib)
Where is that separation and that union now?
Where are those nights and days, months and years?

Khat likhenge garche matlab kuch na ho
Hum toh aashiq hain tumhaare naam ke. (Ghalib)
I will write letters, even if there is no purpose;
I am, after all, a lover of your name.

Sab kahan kuch laala-o-gul mein numaayaan ho gayeen
Khaak mein kya sooratein hongi ke pinhaan ho gayeen. (Ghalib)
Not all, but some beauties became manifest in tulips and roses;
What forms must there be in the dust that have remained hidden!

Dil hi toh hai na sang-o-khisht dard se bhar na aaye kyun
Royenge hum hazaar baar koi hamein sataaye kyun? (Ghalib)
It is only a heart, not stone and brick, why shouldn’t it fill with pain?
I will weep a thousand times, why should anyone torment me?

Aata hai daagh-e-hasrat-e-dil ka shumaar yaad
Mujh se mere gunah ka hisaab aye Khuda na maang. (Ghalib)
I remember the count of the scars of my heart’s unfulfilled desires;
O God, do not ask me for an account of my sins.

Kehte ho na denge hum dil agar pada paaya
Dil kahaan ke gum keeje hum ne mudda’a paaya. (Ghalib)
You say you won’t give your heart if you find it lying around;
Where is the heart to lose? I have found my purpose (in you).

Hum hain mushtaaq aur woh bezaar
Ya Ilaahi yeh maajra kya hai. (Ghalib)
I am eager, and she is indifferent;
O God, what is this affair?

Hai khabar garm unke aane ki
Aaj hi ghar mein boriya na hua. (Ghalib)
There’s exciting news of their arrival;
It’s just today that there isn’t even a straw mat in the house!

Ishrat-e-qatra hai dariya mein fana ho jaana
Dard ka had se guzarna hai dawa ho jaana. (Ghalib)
The joy of a drop is to annihilate itself in the river;
For pain to exceed its limit is to become the cure.

Nukta-cheen hai gham-e-dil usko sunaaye na bane
Kya bane baat jahaan baat banaaye na bane. (Ghalib)
The sorrow of the heart is a subtle critic, it’s hard to narrate it to him;
What can be achieved where even making up a story doesn’t work?