हर एक बात पे कहते हो तुम की तू क्या है

har ek baat pe kahate ho tum ki tuu kyaa hai
tumhi.n kaho ke ye a.ndaaz-e-guftaguu kyaa hai

हर एक बात पे कहते हो तुम की तू क्या है
तुम्हीं कहो के ये अंदाज़ ऐ गुफ्तगू क्या है?

At everything that I say, you say, “Who are you”?
Tell me what kind of talk is this?

na shole mein ye karishmaa na barq mein ye adaa
koii bataao ki vo shoKh-e-tu.ndaKhuu kyaa hai

न शोले में ये करिश्मा न बर्क में ये अदा
कोई बताओ की वो शोख ऐ तुन्दा खू क्या है?

Neither the flame has this miracle, nor the lightning this grace,
Will anyone tell me, what is that ill tempered mischievous/coquettish one.

ye rashk hai ki vo hotaa hai hamasuKhan hamase
vagarnaa Khauf-e-badaamozii-e-adu kyaa hai

ये रश्क है की वो होता है हमसुखन हमसे
वगरना खौफ ऐ बदामोजी ऐ अदू क्या है?

My envy is that he converses with you
Otherwise what is the fear that he would mislead you (against me).

chipak rahaa hai badan par lahuu se pairaahan
hamaarii jeb ko an haajat-e-rafuu kyaa hai?

चिपक रहा है बदन पर लहू से पैराहन
हमारी जेब को अब हाजत-ऐ-रफू कया है?

Sticking to the body is the dress with blood
What is the need now to darn the collar?
jalaa hia jism jahaa.N dil bhii jal gayaa hogaa
kuredate ho jo ab raakh justajuu kyaa hai?

जला है जिस्म जहाँ दिल भी जल गया होगा
कुरेदते हो जो अब राख जुस्तजू क्या है?

Where the body has burned, the heart too must have been burned,
Raking/poking the ashes, what do you desire for (search for) now?
rago.n me.n dau.Date phirane ke ham nahii.n qaayal
jab aa.Nkh hii se na Tapakaa to phir lahuu kyaa hai?

रगों में दौड़ते फिरने के हम नहीं कायल
जब आँख से ही न टपका तोः फिर लहू क्या है?

We do not believe in only running through the viens
When it does not drip through the eye, then is it blood at all?
vo chiiz jisake liye hamako ho bahisht aziiz
sivaa_e baadaa-e-gulfaam-e-mushkabuu kyaa hai?

वो चीज़ जिसके लिए हमको है बहिश्त अजीज
सिवा ऐ बादा ऐ गुलफाम ऐ मुश्कबू क्या है?

The thing for which paradise is dear to us
Is nothing except the pink, musk scented wine.

piyuu.N sharaab agar Khum bhii dekh luu.N do chaar
ye shiishaa-o-qadaah-o-kuuzaa-o-subuu kyaa hai?

पियू शराब अगर खुम भी देख लूँ दो चार
यह शीशा ओ क़दः ओ कूजा ओ सुबू क्या है?

I would drink wine if I see a few wine barrels
What is this glass and goblet and tumbler.
rahii na taaqat-e-guftaar aur agar ho bhii
to kis ummiid pe kahiye ke aarazuu kyaa hai?

रही न ताक़त ऐ गुफ्तार और अगर हो भी
टू किस उम्मीद पे कहिये के आरजू क्या है?

The strength to speak has gone; and even if it existed
With what expectation would one say “What is my desire?”

banaa hai shaah kaa musaahib, phire hai itaraataa
vagarnaa shahar me.n "Ghalib" kii aabaruu kyaa hai?

बना है शाह का मुसाहिब फिरे है इतराता
वगरना सहर में 'ग़ालिब' की आबरू क्या है?

Having become the king’s associate he is putting on airs
Otherwise what dignity does Ghalib have in the city.

Hazaaron Khwahishein Aisi

hazaaro.n Khvaahishe.n aisii ki har Khvaaish pe dam nikale
bahut nikale mere armaa.N lekin phir bhii kam nikale[khwaish: desire]

I have a thousand desires, all desires worth dying for
Though many of my desires were fulfilled, majority remained unfulfilled.
This is another philosophical sher of Ghalib. Here he talks about human desires which define human existence. Life is all about desires. While some of these desires do get fulfilled, others don’t. With the passage of time new desires keep getting added in this long list of desires. So even if many of a man’s desires are fulfilled, he is never satisfied, for many still remain unfulfilled.

Dare kyuu.N meraa qaatil kyaa rahegaa usakii gardan par
vo Khuu.N jo chashm-e-tar se umr bhar yuu.N dam-ba-dam nikale[chashm-e-tar: wet eyes; dam-ba-dam: continuously]

Why should my murderer/killer be afraid for what will remain on her neck?
This blood that has flowed continuously from my wet eyes throughout life.
Ghalib asks his slayer (his beloved), why she fears slaying him? No blood will remain on her neck (hand), even if she slays him for he has no blood left in him. All his blood has flown continuously through his eyes all his life. So she need not fear any legal or moral compunction in killing him. She will not be punished for slaying him.

nikalanaa Khuld se aadam kaa sunate aaye hai.n lekin bahut be-aabaruu hokar tere kuuche se ham nikale[Khuld: paradise; be-aabaruu: disgrace; kuuchaa: street]

We had heard of Adam’s expulsion from Paradise
With great disgrace I came out of your street.
This ‘sher’ though one of Ghalib’s of-quoted ones has been subject to various interpretations by scholars. While the apparent meaning is pretty clear, some of the different interpretations are like, (a) while the fate of Adam was long in the past, I suffer this disgrace now (b) people have heard about Adam’s case and so sympathize with his suffering, I have suffered no less. Hali (Ghalib’s student) says that the addition of the word ‘bahut’ implied that his disgrace was far greater than Adam’s. Take your pick…

huii is daur me.n ma.nsuub mujhase baadaa-ashaamii phir aayaa vo zamaana jo jahaa.N se jaam-e-jam nikale[daur: era, ma.nsuub: association, baada-aashaami: wine drinking]
[jam-e-jam: goblet of King Jamshed]

In this era wine drinking has become associated with me
The time has come for the Goblet of King Jamshed to re-appear in this world.
Ghalib says that in this era wine drinking has become synonymous with his name. So the time for King Jamshed’s goblet to reappear has come. It is believed that King Jamshed was the discoverer of wine and goblet. Here he compares his prowess of drinking to King Jamshed.

huii jinase tavaqqo Khastagii kii daad paane kii vo hamase bhii ziyaadaa Khastaa-e-teG-e-sitam nikale[tavaqqo:expectation; Khastagii:injury, daad: appreciation]
[Khasta: broken/sick/injured, teg-e-sitam: sword of cruelty]

From those whom I expected appreciation of my wounds
They turned out to be even more wounded by the swords of tyranny.

Another of Ghalib’s sher subject to multiple interpretations and also according to us, philosophical. Here he says that how could he expect any appreciation of his sufferings, when others suffer more than him. In this world everyone seeks understanding of their own problems but fail to realize that others have problems too and that their problems may be of a far greater magnitude than ours. Some writers have interpreted it as Ghalib’s lament as to how his beloved could appreciate his wounded feelings when her own feelings had been wounded by someone else i.e. her love for the other person had not been reciprocated.

muhabbat me.n nahii.n hai farq jiine aur marane kaa
usii ko dekh kar jiite hai.n jis kaafir pe dam nikale[dam nikalna: to die]

In love there is no difference between life and death
I live to see her, the one, over who I die.
In love, the boundary between life and death is erased. One thinks of the lover all the time, lives in the hope of seeing her, and is ready to lay down his life for her. Well, slightly run of the mill stuff from Ghalib, this one.

Kahaa.N maiKhaane ka daravaazaa 'Ghalib' aur kahaa.N vaaiz
par itanaa jaanate hai.n kal vo jaataa thaa ke ham nikale[maikana: bar, vaaiz: preacher]

Where the door to the bar, where Ghalib and where the preacher (how can you compare them)
But I know this much, yesterday, when he was going, I was coming out.
The preacher calls wine drinking all bad and goads people against it. But I guess he too has his ‘pegs’. So despite all his teachings of abstinence, he too drinks (implying that addiction to wine is universal and that drinking comes naturally to people). Now, what we like about this sher is its tongue in cheek approach. He does not directly accuse the preacher of drinking, but says yesterday he saw him ‘passing by’ the bar and so was surprised. The rest he leaves to the imagination of the reader.

Kab Se Hunn kya bataoon

Qaasid ke aate aate hi khat ik aur likh rakhuun
main jaanataa huun jo vo likhenge jawaab mein

Let me write a letter before the Postman comes back with the message from my beloved as I know what the reply is going to be (or there will be no reply). Please appreciate Ghalib's humour here.

[Qaasid : Messenger]

kab se huun kyaa bataauun jahaan-e-kharaab mein
shab haaye hijr ko bhii rakhuun gar hisaab mein   

Since long I have been in a world of problems if I include the nights and the period of separation. 

[Jahaan-e-kharaab : World of problems; Shab : night; Haaye : shame; Hijr : separation ]

mujh tak kab un kii bazm mein aataa thaa daur-e-jaam
saaqii ne kuchh milaa na diyaa ho sharaab mein  

When did it happen in her party that I got a chance to have a glass of liquor when it was served among the guests (There was always none left till the tray reached me). And today that I am getting a oppurtunity to have a glass that I am suspecting that the bar tender has mixed something in the liquor. This has a literal and implied meaning. Please try and understand both. 

[bazm : mehfil; saaqi : bar tender]

taa phir na intazaar mein niind aaye umr bhar
aane kaa ahad kar gaye aaye jo Khwaab mein

It may happen that I may not be able to sleep throughout my life as she came in my dreams and promised me to come and meet me.

Ghalib chutii sharaab par ab bhii kabhii kabhii
piitaa huun roz-e-abr-o-shab-e-maahataab mein

I have left alcohol but I stlll drink sometimes on cloudy days and moonlit nights.