Dil Hi To Hai Na Sang-O-Khist - Poetry of Mirza Ghalib

1
It is my heart,
Not a piece of brick or a stone,
Why should it not be full of pain?
I will cry a thousand times.
Why do they keep on troubling me?

2
Not at a temple, not at a mosque,
Not at someone’s door or porch,
I am resting by the way of walk
Why do they tell me to buzz off?

3
With shining grace in her heart,
With her face like a midday sun,
Her beauty is worth to behold.
Why should she be hiding
Her face behind her veil?

4
Her glances of love are like daggers.
Her arrows of love are fatal.
She is pointing them at you,
Why should she be facing you?

5
The ways of life
And the buried heartbreaks
Are one and the same thing.
How can a man free himself
Of grief before his death?

6
Love is full of beautiful things,
But what shameful is, is lust for it.
When one is firm in his standing,
Why should he test the strangers for it?

7
There she is displaying dignity with beauty
Here I am showing regards and modesty.
Can we meet somewhere mid-way?
Why should she invite me to her place?

8
She does not believe in God,
She is a truly unfaithful.
If he has faith in his heart,
Why should he be going to her place?

9
Ghalib, is there someone somewhere
Who has never been broken in heart?
Why should he not cry bitterly?
Why should he not let out his sighs?


Note: These are my translations of the original
verses in Urdu.

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Dil Hi To Hai Na Sang-O-Khist – Mirza Ghalib

1.
dil hee to hai na sang-o-KHisht dard se bhar na aaye kyoN ?
royeNge ham hazaar baar, koee hameiN sataaye kyoN ?

[ sang = stone, KHisht = brick ]

2.
dair naheeN, haram naheeN, dar naheeN, aastaaN naheeN
baiTHe haiN rehguzar pe ham, GHair hameiN uTHaaye kyoN ?

[ dair = temple, haram = mosque, dar = gate, aastaaN = abode, rehguzar = path/way ]

3.
jab woh jamaal-e-dil_faroz, soorat-e-meher-e-neem_roz
aap hee ho nazzaara_soz, parde meiN muNh chupaaye kyoN ?

[ jamaal = beauty, faroz = shining/luminous, meher = sun, neem_roz = mid day, nazzaara_soz = beautiful/worth seeing ]

4.
dashna-e-GHamza jaaN_sitaaN, naawak-e-naaz be_panaah
tera hee aks-e-ruKH sahee, saamne tere aaye kyoN ?

[ dashna = dagger, GHamza = amorous glance, jaaN_sitaaN = distroying life, naawak = a kind of arrow, aks = image ]

5.
qaid-e-hayaat-o-band-e-GHam asl meiN dono ek haiN
maut se pehle aadmee GHam se nijaat paaye kyoN ?

[ hayaat = life, band-e-Gham = conceled sorrows, nijaat = release/liberation ]

6.
husn aur uspe husn_zan rah gayee bulhawas ki sharm
apne pe 'eitmaad hai, GHair ko aazmaaye kyoN ?

[ husn_zan = favourable view, bulhawas = slave of passions/very greedy, 'eitmaad = reliance/dependance ]

7.
waaN wo GHuroor-e-iz'z-o-naaz yaaN yeh hijaab-e-paas-e-waz'a
raah meiN ham mile kahaaN, bazm meiN wo bulaaye kyoN ?

[ GHuroor = pride, iz'z-o-naaz = respect and beauty, hijaab = veil/modesty, paas = regard, waz'a = behaviour ]

8.
haaN wo naheeN KHuda_parast, jaao wo be_wafa sahee
jisko ho deen-o-dil 'azeez, uskee galee meiN jaaye kyoN ?

[ parast = worshipper, deen = religion/faith ]

9.
'GHalib'-e-KHasta ke baGHair kaun se kaam band haiN ?
roiye zaar-zaar kya, keejiye haay-haay kyoN ?

[ KHasta = sick/injured, zaar-zaar = bitterly ]