The couplet suggests that the speaker (Meer) is questioning how they have ceased (something), while their heartfelt yearning or emotion has persistently reached their lips for ages.

This profound couplet captures the agony of suppressed emotion. The poet, Mir Taqi Mir, is questioning how and why he stopped, even though his heart (jigar) kept pressing itself to his lips for ages. It speaks to a deep, internal struggle—the inability to speak the truth or articulate the pain, leaving the sorrow trapped right at the point of utterance.