Aadhi raat hai ab wahaan koi nahin hoga
Aao Ghalib us ki deewaar choom aate hain

It is midnight now; no one will be there — come, Ghalib, let us go and kiss the wall of her house.

Dukh de kar sawaal karte ho
Tum bhi Ghalib kamaal karte ho

You wound me, and then you ask how I am — you too, Ghalib, are quite something.

Meherbaan ho ke bula lo mujhe chaaho jis waqt
Main gaya waqt nahin hoon ke phir aa bhi na sakoon

Be kind and call me whenever you wish — I am not a bygone moment that can never return.

Waqt ne chheen li chehre ki chamak Ghalib
Hum waise nahin rahe jaise hua karte the

Time has stolen the glow from the face, Ghalib — we are no longer as we once used to be.

Lahu mein dauRte phirne ke hum nahin qaail
Jab aankh hi se na Tapka ho to phir lahu kya hai

I do not believe in blood that merely races through the veins — if it has not spilled from the eye, then what sort of blood is it?

Be-khudi be-sabab nahin Ghalib
Kuchh to hai jis ki parda-daari hai

This self-forgetfulness is not without cause, Ghalib — there is surely something I am keeping veiled.

Karne gaye the us se taghaaful ka hum gila
Ki ek hi nigaah ke bas khaak ho gaye

I had gone to complain to her of her neglect — she cast a single glance, and I was reduced to dust.

Mizaaj mein thoRi sakhti laazmi hai
Log pi jaate samandar agar khaara na hota

A little firmness in one's nature is essential — people would have drunk the sea dry, had it not been salty.

Ishq ne Ghalib nikamma kar diya
Warna hum bhi aadmi the kaam ke

Love has left me good for nothing, Ghalib — otherwise I too was a man of some use.

Dard ho dil mein to dawa keejiye
Dil hi jab dard ho to kya keejiye

If there is pain in the heart, one can seek a cure — but when the heart itself has become the pain, what is one to do?

Guzar jaayega ye daur bhi Ghalib zara itminaan to rakh
Jab khushi na Thehar saki, to gham ki kya auqaat hai

This phase too shall pass, Ghalib — have a little patience; when even joy could not stay, what standing does sorrow have?

Phir nahin baste woh dil jo ek baar ujaR jaayein
Ghalib qabrein jitni bhi sajaao koi zinda nahin hota

Hearts once laid waste are never inhabited again — Ghalib, however much you adorn the graves, no one comes back to life.

Ujaalon mein mil hi jaayega koi na koi Ghalib
Talaash us ko karo jo andheron mein saath de

In the light you will always find someone or other, Ghalib — seek instead the one who stands by you in the dark.

Dil-e-naadaan tujhe hua kya hai
Aakhir is dard ki dawa kya hai

O foolish heart, what has come over you? — after all, what is the cure for this pain?

Un ke dekhe se jo aa jaati hai munh par raunaq
Woh samajhte hain ke beemaar ka haal achha hai

The glow that comes to my face at the sight of her — she takes it to mean the patient is doing well.

Ranj se khoogar hua insaan to miT jaata hai ranj
Mushkilein mujh par paRin itni ke aasaan ho gayin

Once a person grows accustomed to grief, the grief itself fades away — so many hardships fell upon me that they became easy.

Ghalib hamein na chheR ke phir josh-e-ashk se
BaiThe hain hum tahayya-e-toofaan kiye hue

Do not provoke me, Ghalib — for with the surge of tears, I sit here having resolved upon a storm.

Maut ka ek din mu'ayyan hai
Neend kyun raat bhar nahin aati

A single day for death is already fixed — so why does sleep elude me all night long?

Rekhte ke tumhi ustaad nahin ho Ghalib
Kahte hain agle zamaane mein koi Mir bhi tha

You are not the only master of Urdu verse, Ghalib — they say that in an earlier age there was also one named Mir.

Hazaaron khwahishen aisi ke har khwahish pe dam nikle
Bahut nikle mere armaan lekin phir bhi kam nikle

A thousand desires, each so fierce it could take my life — many of my longings were fulfilled, and yet they still seemed too few.

Gham-e-hasti ka Asad! kis se ho juz-e-marg ilaaj
Shama har rang mein jalti hai sahar hone tak

The sorrow of existence, Asad — what can cure it but death? The candle burns on, in every hue, until the break of dawn.

Baazeecha-e-atfaal hai duniya mere aage
Hota hai shab o roz tamaasha mere aage

The world is but a child's playground before me — night and day, a spectacle unfolds before my eyes.

Kitna khauf hota hai shaam ke andheron mein
Poochh un parindon se jin ke ghar nahin hote

How much fear there is in the darkness of evening — ask the birds that have no homes.

Haathon ki lakeeron par na jaa Ghalib
Naseeb un ke bhi hote hain jin ke haath nahin hote

Do not put your faith in the lines of the palm, Ghalib — even those who have no hands still have a destiny.

Kyun gardish-e-mudaam se ghabra na jaaye dil
Insaan hoon, piyaala o saaghar nahin hoon main

Why should the heart not despair at this ceaseless turning of fate? — I am a human being, not a cup or goblet to be passed around forever.

Kis waaste azeez nahin jaante mujhe
Laal o zumurrud o zar o gauhar nahin hoon main

Why do they not hold me dear? — after all, I am not a ruby, an emerald, gold, or a pearl.