Ghalib by Habib Wali Muhammad

1. Yeh na thee hamari qismat keh wisaal-e-yaar hota
Agar aur jeete rahtay yehi intezaar hota

Wisaal – union / meeting
Wisaal e yaar – union/ meeting  with Beloved

1. It was not destined that I meet/ connect with my Beloved
Had I even lived longer, waiting for her was my Fate

2. Tere waade par jiyee ham to yeh jaan jhoot jana
Keh khushi se mar na jaate agar aitbaar hota

2. If I lived because of my faith in your promise, I knew It was a lie,
Had i really believed in your word, I would have died of sheer joy

3. Koi  mere dil se pooche tere teer-e-neemkash ko,
ye khalish kahaan se hotee jo jigar ke paar hota

Neem / niim – half
Teer e neem kash – half drawn arrow ( neither pierces nor let’s the threat pass away)
Khalish – prick, pain

3. Someone should ask me the agony of your half- drawn arrow,
This continuous pain would not have been if it had struck & gone  through

4. ye kahaan ki dosti hai ke bane hain dost naaseh,
Koi chaarasaaz hota, koi ghamgusaar hota

Naaseh – advisor, counsellor , someone who admonishes
Chaarasaaz – physician, healer
Ghamgusaar – sympathiser, one who comforts

4. What price friendship when friends start admonishing,
someone should have been a healer, someone should have comforted me

5. kahoon kis se main ke kya hai, shab-e-gham burii bala hai,
mujhe kya bura tha marna agar ek baar hota

5. In Whom should I confide my woes in the evening of sorrow,
I would not have minded death,  if it was just once

(5. Because the Beloved does not give straight answers , hope and despair are both present , so it often  feels like death)

6. hue mar ke ham jo ruswa, hue kyon na gharq-e-dariya ,
na kabhee janaaza uthata, na kaheen mazaar hota

Gharq – drown
Janaaza – funeral
Mazaar – tomb , mausoleum

6. Why did I not just drown instead of being disgraced after death,
If there had been no funeral, there would be no tomb

6. This verse is a supreme example of Ghalib’s ego : he takes it as a given that many will visit his tomb( Beloved too) leading to gossip about their relationship.

7. ye masaail-e-tasawwuf, ye tera bayaan ‘Ghalib’!
tujhe ham walee samajhate, jo na baada_khwaar hota

7. Masaail – problems
Tasawwuf – mysticism
Masaail e tasawwuf – philosophy/ discussion  of mysticism
Wali – saint
Baada-khwaar – drunkard, inebriated

7. this mysticism, these statements of yours Ghalib
Had you not been inebriated, we would have taken you for a saint.
A few more popular renditions of the ghazal