Date: Mon, 18 Mar 96 11:46:49 EST
From: Lalit Koul
Subject: Ghazal !!!

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Yeh na thi hamari kismat, ki visaal-e-yaar hota,
Agar aur jeetay rehtay, yahi intezaar hota !

[I was not lucky enough to meet my friend,
If I would have lived any longer, I would have been still waiting for this meeting !]

Kahoon kis say main ki kya hain, Shab-e-gham buri bala hai
Mujhay kya bura tha marna, agar ek baar hota !

[Whom should I tell what this is, Night-of-sorrows is a terrible thing,
I would not have hated to die, if it was just once only !]

Gham agar-chay jaangusil hai, par kahan bachay ki dil hai,
Gham-e-ishq gar na hota, gham-e-rozgaar hota !

[Even if this sorrow is fatal, how can I escape, after all it is heart,
If it would not have been sorrows-of-love, it would have been sorrows-of-world !]

Huey markay hum jo rusva, huey kyon na gark-e-dariya,
Na kabhi janaza uthta, na kahin mazaar hota,

[If I had to get a bad name after death, why didn't I vanish in water,
There would not have been any funeral procession, there would not have been any tomb !]

- Ghalib
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Lalit.