Click on any passage for word meanings and explanatory discussion.
1
kyuN jal gaya na taab¹-e ruKh²-e yaar³ dekh kar
jalta⁴ huN apni taaqat⁵-e didaar⁶ dekh kar 1.brilliance 2.face 3.beloved 4.burn in pain of regret 5.strength, capability 6.to see
The poet/lover saw the brilliant face of the beloved but did not burst into flames because of his strength/capability to bear such a sight. Now he is burning in pain of regret (that he has such capability), because it would have been better to go up in flames at the sight of the beloved. That would have been a fitting tribute to her beauty.
2
aatish-parast¹ kahte haiN ahl²-e jahaaN³ mujhe
sar-garm⁴-e naalah-ha⁵-e sharar-baar⁶ dekh kar   1.fire worshipper 2.people of 3.the world 4.busy in, enthusiastic, fired up 5.plural of naalah-wailing 6.raining sparks
The poet/lover is constantly busy in wailing (longing for the beloved). His wails are so intense that they appear to be raining sparks (or spewing pain, since fire is associated with pain). So people (of this world, who do not understand universal spirituality) think that he is a fire-worshipper. There is an interesting unstated conflation of fire-worshipper, idol-worshipper … all this super-imposed on his own intense spirituality in the universal sense.
3
kya aabru¹-e ishq jahaaN ‘aam² ho jafa³
rukta huN tum ko be-sabab⁴ aazaar⁵ dekh kar   1.dignity, respect 2.common 3.cruelty 4.without reason 5.affliction
There is no dignity in love if cruelty is commonplace. Cruelty by the beloved should be reserved for the true lover i.e. the poet. When the poet/lover sees the beloved being indiscrimately cruel to any and all, he pulls back because he sees the dignity of his own love called into question.
4
aata hai mere qatl¹ ko par josh²-e rashk³ se
marta huN us ke haath meN talvaar dekh kar   1.killing, slaughter 2.enthusiasm, abundance, wave 3.envy
The beloved comes at him intent to slaughter him, but he dies of envy, which rises like a wave and kills him … because he sees the sword in her hand, and the sword is now a rival. Her hand should be holding him, not the sword. So, he dies of envy even before the strike of the sword.
5
saabit¹ hua hai gardan-e mina² pe Khoon-e-Khalq³
larze⁴ hai mauj⁵-e mai⁶ teri raftaar⁷ dekh kar   1.proven 2.flask 3.blood (murder) of creation 4.tremble 5.wave 6.wine 7.speed, style, gait
There is a conflation of many beautiful and witty pictorializations. The beloved/saaqi has indulged in drinking. Her inebriated gait, waving, her waist slender like the neck of the flask, causes the gathering to die in pure awe at the sight. The blame for this mass murder falls on the “neck” of the flask. The ripples on the surface of the wine as the flask is set down is as if it is trembling in fear of the punishment that is sure to follow this mass murder.
6
va hasrata¹ ke yaar² ne kheNcha³ sitam⁴ se haath
ham ko harees⁵-e lazzat⁶-e aazaar⁷ dekh kar   1.alas 2.beloved 3.pulled back 4.cruelty 5.greedy 6.pleasure 7.pain
The beloved afflicts pain on the poet/lover and he enjoys it so much so that he is greedy for more of that pleasure. Alas, the beloved has pulled back from such cruelty when she realized that he relishes the pleasure that this pain affords him. But now that she stops, it is yet another form of pain that has been inflicted on him and he can relish that! A virtuous catch 22.
7
bik jaate haiN hum aap mataa¹-e suKhan² ke saath
laikin ‘ayaar³-e tab’a⁴-e Kharidar dekh kar   1.treasure 2.verse 3.standard, quality 4.nature
The poet and his suKhan are sold to the audience. But this poet is very selective/discriminating. He gets sold only to those who can understand him, only after evaluating the quality of their nature.
8
zunnaar¹ baaNdh subhah²-e sad-daanah³ toR Daal
rahrau⁴ chale hai raah⁵ ko hamvaar⁶ dekh kar 1.janev, hindu ceremonial thread 2.tasbeeh, rosary (islamic) 3.hundred beads 4. traveler 5.path 6.smooth, level
Break/cut the tasbeeh/rosary of hundred beads and tie a janev/hindu thread. A traveler chooses the smoothest route. The implication is that the bumps of the bead are not smooth but just the thread of the janev is smooth, therefore preferable. Ghalib is making sarcastic fun of the rituals and appendages of ritual as well as declaring the one-ness of all spirituality.
9
in aabiloN¹ se paNv ke ghabra² gaya tha maiN
ji Khush hua hai raah³ ko pur-Khaar⁴ dekh kar   1.blisters, boils 2.worried, anxious 3.path 4.full of thorns
The poet/lover is an inveterate wanderer. He constantly travels the path of love/passion and has blistered feet. He was getting anxious about his blistered but then was relieved that the path of love was thorny. The thorns on the path will puncture his blisters and relieve the pain. The path of love gets more painful if you try to relieve pain!
10
kya bad-gumaaN¹ hai mujh se ke aaiine meN mere
tooti² ka aks³ samjhe hai zangaar⁴ dekh kar   1.suspicious 2.parrot 3.reflection, image 4.green rust spots, verdigris
Mirrors of the time were polished metal which could develop greenish ‘rust’ spots. The beloved sees these and mistakes them for the image of a parrot. She suspects that the lover is keenly gazing at this image and cannot stand the thought. For her, his attention should be exclusively on her image, all the time.
11
girni thi hum pe barq¹-e tajalli² na toor³ par
dete haiN baada⁴ zarf⁵-e qadah-Khwaar⁶ dekh kar   1.lightning 2.brilliance, enlightenment 3.Mt. toor/Sinaai 4.wine 5.capacity 6.wine-drinker, patron of the tavern
Biblical/Quranic story is that Moses went up Mt. Toor asking to see god. Divine manifestation came in the shape of lightning strike which pulverized the mountain and Moses fainted. He did not have the capacity to see. Ghalib claims that he has that capacity, therefore god should have caused lightning to strike him not Mt. Toor, just like the saaqi serves wine only in proportion to the capacity of the patron.
12
sar phoRna vo Ghalib-e shoridah¹-haal² ka
yaad a gayaa mujhe teri deevaar dekh kar 1.disturbed, mad 2.condition
The poet/lover is standing apart from himself and speaking about himself to the beloved. The poet sees here wall which reminds him of how Ghalib in a frenzy of love used to bang his head against the wall, perhaps the very same wall of the beloved.

1
O that I had been instantly consumed by the radiance of her face,
Than have to steel myself to bear this blazing disgrace.
4
Behold how she advances bold for fatal reprimand;
I die for envy of the sword, for there might be my hand.
5
Upon the brimful cup is proved the guilt of a massacre;
For the toxic tempo of your elan is impossible to bear.
7
My faculties, all charmed, salute the true critic of my verse;
Unto him I bequeath my soul, besides this poetic converse.
9
The blisters on my burning soles had terrrified all my sense;
How heartening to discover that the path is thorny hence.
12
When I espy those massive walls of stone, that do not give,
All my mad insensed appeal, my agonies I relive.