Date: Fri, 05 Jan 96 12:21:00 PST
From: Ramesh Hariharan (rameshh@tp.ac.sg)
Subject: A ghazal by Ghalib!

Hi folks

OK! It is time for a Ghalib ghazal. I am posting here, 4 shers(out of a
total of 9 in the ghazal) from a ghazal sung by Jagjit, both in the serial
Mirza Ghalib, as well as in Sajda. Enjoy! Please note that Ghalib's poems
are such that they can be interpreted differently. That's the beauty of it.
Other interpretations welcome!!!

1. dil hee to hai na sang-o-KHisht dard se bhar na aaye kyoN ?
royeNge ham hazaar baar, koee hameiN sataaye kyoN ?

[ sang = stone, KHisht = brick ]

[It is after all a heart and not stone and brick; why should'nt it be filled with pain?
I will cry a thousand times; why should anybody trouble me for that?]

2. dair naheeN, haram naheeN, dar naheeN, aastaaN naheeN
baiTHe haiN rehguzar pe ham, GHair hameiN uTHaaye kyoN ?

[ dair = temple, haram = mosque, dar = gate, aastaaN = abode, rehguzar
= path/way ]

[There is no temple, no mosque, no gate/entrance nor is there an abode
I am sitting on the path; why should a stranger pick me up/ help me?]

3. qaid-e-hayaat-o-band-e-GHam asl meiN dono ek haiN
maut se pehle aadmee GHam se nijaat paaye kyoN ?

[ qaid-e-hayaat = life/bondage of life, band-e-Gham = conceled sorrows,
nijaat = release/liberation ]

[Bondage of life and a person's concealed sorrows, both are actually the same
Before his death, why should a man be liberated from all his sorrows?]

4. 'GHalib'-e-KHasta ke baGHair kaun se kaam band haiN ?
roiye zaar-zaar kya, keejiye haay-haay kyoN ?

[ KHasta = sick/injured, zaar-zaar = bitterly ]

[No work is ever possible/completed without Ghalib's misery/pain
Why should one cry then, why should one complain then?]

regards
Ramesh Hariharan