If confined in a cage, then the service of the nālagī is ours, but when in the garden, we desired the position of the tomb-guardian.

This profound couplet by Mir Taqi Mir explores the painful discrepancy between expectation and reality. The poet suggests that while serving a courtesan (Nalgi) might be tolerable when confined (in a cage), when he was in a beautiful garden, he expected a position of honor, like a caretaker of a tomb (Rauza-Khwan). It speaks to the loss of dignity and status, where the speaker feels that his worth was measured by his surroundings, not his true self.