Ghazal
लूँ वाम बख़्त-ए-ख़ुफ़्ता से यक-ख़्वाब-ए-खुश वले
This ghazal by Ghalib explores profound despair and the burden of existence, where the poet yearns for a pleasant dream but fears the impossible debt of happiness. He embraces a beautiful madness of self-annihilation, desiring to become as insignificant as road dust, and vows that even after death, his heart's lament would stir a dust-filled desert. Ultimately, he expresses ultimate humility, wishing to cast his pride as mere dust before the beloved's graceful presence.
Source: rekhta · HI
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1
लूँ वाम बख़्त-ए-ख़ुफ़्ता से यक-ख़्वाब-ए-खुश वले
'ग़ालिब' ये ख़ौफ़ है कि कहाँ से अदा करूँ
I'd borrow from my slumbering fate one pleasant dream, but, Ghalib, this fear I have, from where shall I repay it?
I would borrow a pleasant dream from my sleeping/unfortunate luck, but Ghalib, this fear I have: from where will I ever repay it?
2
ख़ुश वहशते कि अर्ज़-ए-जुनून-ए-फ़ना करूँ
जूँ गर्द-ए-राह जामा-ए-हस्ती क़बा करूँ
How joyous is that frenzy, that I may express my madness for annihilation; like the dust of the road, I would make the garment of existence my robe.
Oh, what a joyous wildness, that I may express my passion for annihilation! Like dust on the road, I long to discard this garment of existence, making it a mere cloak of insignificance.
3
गर बा'द-ए-मर्ग वहशत-ए-दिल का गिला करूँ
मौज-ए-ग़ुबार से पुर यक दश्त वा करूँ
If after death I complain of the heart's wildness,I would open a desert filled with waves of dust.
If after death I complain about my heart's wild desolation, I would unfold a desert filled with waves of dust.
4
आ ऐ बहार-ए-नाज़ कि तेरे ख़िराम से
दस्तार गर्द-ए-शाख़-ए-गुल-ए-नक़्श-ए-पा करूँ
Come, O spring of grace, that with your gentle pace,I may make the flower-branch dust a turban for your flower-like trace.
Come, O spring of grace, so that by your elegant walk, I may make my turban a garland for the rose branches, marking them with your footprints.
5
ख़ुश ऊफ़्तादगी कि ब-सहरा-ए-इन्तिज़ार
जूँ जादा गर्द-ए-रह से निगह सुर्मा-सा करूँ
Fortunate is this lowliness, that in the desert of waiting,Like a path, with the road's dust, I make my gaze kohl-like.
Oh, what a happy plight, that in this desert of waiting, I shall make my gaze like kohl from the dust of the path, just like a road, thereby purifying my sight.
6
सब्र और ये अदा कि दिल आवे असीर-ए-चाक
दर्द और ये कमीं कि रह-ए-नाला वा करूँ
Patience, and this affected air, that the heart's ensnared by every wound,And pain, and this base weakness, that I must open where my wails resound.
Patience, and this manner, that the heart becomes a prisoner of its torn collar. Pain, and this inadequacy, that I must open the path for lamentation.
7
वो बे-दिमाग़-ए-मिन्नत-ए-इक़बाल हूँ कि मैं
वहशत ब-दाग़-ए-साया-ए-बाल-ए-हुमा करूँ
I am so disinclined to fortune's favour, that I
Would wilder at the mark of Huma's wing-shadow.
I am so disdainful of the obligation of good fortune that I would mark my wildness/solitude with the very shadow of the Huma's wing as a 'daagh' (a stain or scar).
8
वो इल्तिमास-ए-लज्ज़त-ए-बे-दाद हूँ कि मैं
तेग़-ए-सितम को पुश्त-ए-ख़म-ए-इल्तिजा करूँ
So deep my craving for injustice's sweet delight,
I'd make the tyrant's sword a back for humble plight.
I am such a supplicant for the pleasure of injustice that I would make the sword of tyranny itself the bowed back of my entreaty.
9
वो राज़-ए-नाला हूँ कि ब-शरह-ए-निगाह-ए-इज्ज़
अफ़्शाँ ग़ुबार-ए-सुर्मा से फ़र्द-ए-सदा करूँ
I am that secret lament, that with a humble, pleading gaze,From kohl's scattered dust, a voice's record I can raise.
I am that secret lament which, with the explanation of a humble gaze, I can make a distinct sound from the dust of kohl.
10
लूँ वाम बख़्त-ए-ख़ुफ़्ता से यक ख़्वाब-ए-ख़ुश असद
लेकिन ये बीम है कि कहाँ से अदा करूँ
Shall I borrow one sweet dream from my slumbering fate, Asad? But I fear, from where shall I find the means to repay?
O Asad, should I borrow one pleasant dream from my sleeping fortune? But I fear, from where will I repay it?
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