That sigh from the heartHas not the importance of a straw,
Although it can cause
A crack in the sun.
That magic is of no avail
For the fulfilment of one's desires,
That magic by which
The boat floats on the mirage.
Ghalib, I have for some time
Given up drinking wine; I drink only
When it is a cloudy day,
Or a moonlit night.
Friday, 10 August 2007
ghalib..
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That sigh from the heart
Has not the importance of a straw,
Although it can cause
A crack in the sun.
(desires are of paramount importane to one, but in reality, without action, they are just that... desires..)
That magic is of no avail
For the fulfilment of one's desires,
That magic by which
The boat floats on the mirage.
(The magic has to be evoked.. it has to be evoked through intense hard work..)
Ghalib, I have for some time
Given up drinking wine; I drink only
When it is a cloudy day,
Or a moonlit night.
(the wine of hard work, once taken up inlife can never be left ever..!)
the beauty is.. we can replace hard work with love.. or any emotion...
only ghalib could have written something so beautiful..
wish i was able to understand urdu.
Quite correct Viv..Ghalib was truly an exceptional man...his couplets have endured 150 odd years..that's something! And man, does one sher of his lend itself to more than one explanation! I suppose a new meaning emerges depending on your mood...not to say anything as to what the knowers of Urdu say about his cunning play of words :)
for example there is this couplet -
Aah ko chahiye ek umra asar hone tak
Kaun jeeta hai teri 'zulf ke sar hone' tak
zulf ka sar hona is an Urdu idiom meaning - to understand something
([my] sighs will take a lifetime to achieve some result;
Who stays alive till you understand!)
People have interpreted it as the poet's beloved would never understand the depth of his emotions. While others have taken the words at their face value - As in, the beloved's face is hidden behind her long hair, and the time that she is taking to show her face to the poet, feels so long as to be a lifetime for him!
he is confusing just short of being absurd.. just on the edge..
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