irade bandhta huun sochta huun tod deta huun kahin aisa na ho jaae kahin aisa na ho jaae

iman mujhe roke hai jo khinche hai mujhe kufr kaaba mire pichhe hai kalisa mire aage

faith restrains me while i am tugged at by heresy behind me stands the mosque, the church in front of me ghalib describes a profound spiritual crisis where he is torn between religious duty and the seduction of the forbidden. standing between the kaaba (symbolizing established tradition) and the church (symbolizing the exotic or iconoclastic object of desire), he feels the tension of leaving his faith behind while being irresistibly drawn toward a new, perhaps sacrilegious, path.

mujhe bhi lamha-e-hijrat ne kar diya taqsim nigah ghar ki taraf hai qadam safar ki taraf

zabt karta huun to ghutta hai qafas men mira dam aah karta huun to sayyad khafa hota hai

sar men sauda bhi nahin dil men tamanna bhi nahin lekin is tark-e-mohabbat ka bharosa bhi nahin

the speaker insists he feels neither obsession nor desire, as if love has ended. but he doubts his own “renunciation,” sensing that feelings can return or are merely hidden. the couplet captures the tension between outward calm and inner uncertainty. it exposes how hard it is to be sure that love has truly been left behind.

ye kis azaab men chhoda hai tu ne is dil ko sukun yaad men teri na bhulne men qarar

hai ajab si kashmakash dil men 'asar' kis ko bhulen kis ko rakkhen yaad ham

ye sochte hi rahe aur bahar khatm hui kahan chaman men nasheman bane kahan na bane

i kept contemplating, spring came and went away where in the garden should i make my nest today

phadkun to sar phate hai na phadkun to ji ghate tang is qadar diya mujhe sayyad ne qafas

tum se milna bhi hai milna bhi nahin hai tum se aao tum se sar-e-bazar kahin milte hain

kashmakash dil men hai ye barson se aas kis ki hai yaas kis ki hai

irade bandhta huun sochta huun tod deta huun kahin aisa na ho jaae kahin aisa na ho jaae

iman mujhe roke hai jo khinche hai mujhe kufr kaaba mire pichhe hai kalisa mire aage

faith restrains me while i am tugged at by heresy behind me stands the mosque, the church in front of me ghalib describes a profound spiritual crisis where he is torn between religious duty and the seduction of the forbidden. standing between the kaaba (symbolizing established tradition) and the church (symbolizing the exotic or iconoclastic object of desire), he feels the tension of leaving his faith behind while being irresistibly drawn toward a new, perhaps sacrilegious, path.

mujhe bhi lamha-e-hijrat ne kar diya taqsim nigah ghar ki taraf hai qadam safar ki taraf

zabt karta huun to ghutta hai qafas men mira dam aah karta huun to sayyad khafa hota hai

sar men sauda bhi nahin dil men tamanna bhi nahin lekin is tark-e-mohabbat ka bharosa bhi nahin

the speaker insists he feels neither obsession nor desire, as if love has ended. but he doubts his own “renunciation,” sensing that feelings can return or are merely hidden. the couplet captures the tension between outward calm and inner uncertainty. it exposes how hard it is to be sure that love has truly been left behind.

ye kis azaab men chhoda hai tu ne is dil ko sukun yaad men teri na bhulne men qarar

hai ajab si kashmakash dil men 'asar' kis ko bhulen kis ko rakkhen yaad ham

ye sochte hi rahe aur bahar khatm hui kahan chaman men nasheman bane kahan na bane

i kept contemplating, spring came and went away where in the garden should i make my nest today

phadkun to sar phate hai na phadkun to ji ghate tang is qadar diya mujhe sayyad ne qafas

tum se milna bhi hai milna bhi nahin hai tum se aao tum se sar-e-bazar kahin milte hain

kashmakash dil men hai ye barson se aas kis ki hai yaas kis ki hai