Ghalib – A Ghazal in English

     

A Ghazal of Ghalib

Rendered into English

By my late father Syed Shahab Uddin Ahmad

Former lecturer of Chemistry (1941-51), Aligarh Muslim University.

(Kehtay ho na daingay hum, dil aagar para paaya,

Dil kahan keh gum kejaiy, hum nay muddaa paaya)

English Translation

 

You say my heart you will not give me back

If you could find it some where laid;

But where is the heart for me to lose,

Lo! thus I know where it has captured been.

In loving I enjoy the taste of life,

Redress it gave to all my pains,

Itself although a cureless pain it is.

My heart confiderate of my rival is,

No trust in it can I repose and thus

My sights are void and laments vain.

It’s beauty’s art to test in guise;

It is simple yet artful, listless yet alert.

The buds are blooming anew, reminding me

My broken heart, which I have lost.

I know this much of my heart, that oft

I ran in quest of it, but it is you

Who, has so oft been finding it.

The preacher of his words has sprinkled salt

On wound, but may one ask of him,

What pleasure did he get from this?

Tags: Ghalib in English, Ghazal of Ghalib in English