Click here for background and on any passage for word meanings and explanatory discussion. mirza asadullah KhaaN Ghalib (1797-1869). I dare not write any introduction. On more than one occasion Ghalib has warned his readers that he needs no introduction or even address. I humbly comply. badri raina, retired professor of English, dehli University, poet, writer, columnist and a dear friend has translated several Ghalib Ghazal and published them as a book.
1
dard minnat kash¹-e dava² na hua
maiN na achchha hua, bura na hua³  1.obliged to 2.curative potion 3.it is not so bad
The poet/lover is wary of being under any obligations. He would rather suffer pain than be in debt and lose self-respect. It is just as well that I was not cured. This interpretation is similar in spirit to ‘ulTe phir aaye dar-e kaaba agar vaa na hua’. Another possible interpretation is that the pain is granted by the beloved and the poet/lover treasures it. In a moment of weakness he sought a cure but now is glad that it did not have an effect. He still has the pain.

2
jama’¹ karte ho kyuN raqeebauN² ko
ek tamaasha³ hua, gila⁴ na hua1.collect, gather 2.rivals 3.spectacle 4.complaint
The poet/lover complained that the beloved was paying undue attention to the ‘other’. In order to spite him she is gathering all his rivals around her and making a spectacle of herself (or possibly making a spectacle of him before all of them).

3
hum kahaaN qismat¹ aazmane² jaayeN
tu hi jab Khanjar-aazma³ na hua1.fate 2.try, test 3.use/try dagger
The poet/lover would rather be killed by the dagger (sharp looks) of the beloved. He is willing to have his ‘fate-death at ther hands’ tested. But where/how can have his fate tested if she does not test HER ‘fate-using her dagger/eyelashes to kill him’.

4
kitne shiriN¹ haiN tere lab² ke raqeeb³
gaaliyaN kha ke be-maza⁴ na hua1.sweet 2.lips 3.rival 4.bad taste
The beloved has heaped abuse at the poet/lover’s rival. He has to swallow/eat that abuse but still does not have a bad taste in his mouth because her lips are so sweet. But the poet/lover is a distant observer of this happening. He does not get to taste that sweet abuse! This is a complaint of neglect by the beloved.

5
hai Khabar¹ garm² un ke aane ki
aaj hi ghar meN boriya³ na hua1.news, word 2.warm, going around 3.mat
The poet/lover has longed for a visit by her. Now he gets word that she is preparing to visit him. Ironically it is just then that he does not have even a mat to spread out to welcome her. The use of ‘mat’ re-inforces the image of destitution.

6
kya vo namrood¹ ki Khudaaii² thi
bandagi³ meN mera bhala⁴ na hua1.Nimrod, Bibilical/quraanic king who claimed divinity 2.divinity 3.slavery 4.welfare, good
Nimrod here can serve as a metaphor for either god himself or for the beloved. I have served him/her faithfully but the result is that I got no welfare/reward out of it. It was as if it is the cruel/unjust divinity/reign of Nimrod.

7
jaan di¹, di hui usi ki thi
haq² to yuN hai ke haq³ ada⁴ na hua1.gave life 2.truth 3.rightful claim 4.paid, rewarded
Who gave life to whom? It can either be read as ‘god gave us life’ or as ‘I gave/devoted my life to (the beloved or god)’. Thus (a) I devoted my life to the beloved but the truth is that she did not give the reward that was my due (b) I devoted my life to god, but the truth is that I did not do my full duty (c) I devoted my life to god, but the truth is that he did not hold up his end of the bargain (d) god gave us life, it was his to give. The truth is that we could not live our life to his expectations.

8
zaKhm¹ gar dab² gaya, lahu³ na thama⁴
kaam gar ruk gaya, rava⁵ na hua1.wound 2.pressed 3.blood, bleeding 4.stop 5.flow, proceed
The wound is the wound of love. It has been pressed but as soon as the pressure is released it flows again. There is no cure. The poet/lover will always be afflicted with love. The ‘kaam/task’ is the every day task of life. It has stopped and will not proceed any further. He will ONLY nurse his wound of love, nothing else.

9
rahzani¹ hai ke dilsataani² hai
le ke dil, dilsataaN³ ravaana⁴ hua1.highway robbery 2.theft of heart 3.heart thief 4.depart
Is this highway robbery or what. The thief (brazenly) took my heart and walked away. The play of words with ‘ravaa na’ in the previous she’r and ‘ravaana’ is this she’r is noteworthy.

10
kuchh to paRhiye¹ ke log kahte haiN
aaj Ghalib Ghazal-sara² na hua1.read 2.Ghazal recitation
Read/recite something. otherwise people will say, today Ghalib would/could not recite a Ghazal. Of course, Ghalib would never be in such a position. This is a tongue in cheek praise of himself.

dard minnat kash – mirza Ghalib – Raina’s Rendition

1
My sufferings do ill receive her sympathies galore;
O painful death is better end than a condescending cure.

2
Why need you call a multitude to certify the wrong?
Oh, the shame in such an exhibit, the slander in the throng.

3
Strangers can hardly help me test my dubious destiny;
When your own dagger should, alas, refuse to set me free.

4
O the honeyed rapture in your lips, surpassingly sweet;
Your enemy lost no palate when you hurled abuses meet.

5
She means to honour my abode, the rumour is about;
What irony, my only mat, I should be without.

7
The yielding back of life is but the repayment of a loan,
For it was he who gave to us our lives, all his own.

8
My wounds well have healed away, but the blood yet trickles through
Then why must my arrested life refuse to run anew?

9
She plucked my heart out all at once, and vanished instantly;
Was it an overture of love, or some highway robbery?

10
Out with some concocted song to answer the lament
That Ghalib has all folded up, suspiciously spent.