I have drunk a mere drop of water in this era, and it has emerged from the spring of my eyes as blood.

Mir Taqi Mir captures the profound agony of emotional scarcity here. The poet says he has drunk only a single drop of water in this harsh era. This single drop represents the meager comfort or relief found in a lifetime of sorrow. The second line is a powerful metaphor: the tears (चश्म-ए-तर) are so intensely felt that they emerge, not merely as water, but as the 'blood of life' (ख़ून-ए-नाब), suggesting that the pain itself is sustaining and vital.