Alas for the inattention of the yearning gaze, otherwise every piece of stone here was a fragment of the heart of Mount Sinai.
In this couplet, Ghalib laments the tragic blindness of our own perception, regretting how careless our seeking gaze has been. Had our longing been truly awake and attentive, we would have realized that every ordinary pebble around us is a sacred fragment of Mount Sinai itself, touched by divine light. The sacred is not far away or hidden; it is scattered across the entire world, waiting only for an eye perceptive enough to truly behold it.
Interpretation note: meanings and explanations may be AI-assisted and should not replace a primary text or scholarly edition. See the editorial policy.
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