Love, Longing, Loss

ishq par zor nahin hai ye wo aatish 'ghaalib' ki lagae na lage aur bujhae na bane one has no power over love, it is that flame, to wit, which neither can be set alight, nor extinguished once lit the couplet presents love as an uncontrollable inner blaze. it arrives on its own terms and refuses to obey the lover’s will, so both starting and stopping it lie beyond human power. the metaphor of “fire” captures love’s consuming intensity and the speaker’s helpless surrender to it.

karunga kya jo mohabbat mein ho gaya nakaam mujhe to aur koi kaam bhi nahin aata what will i do in love / if i don't succeed i know no other task, i have to concede

tum mukhatib bhi ho qarib bhi ho tum ko dekhen ki tum se baat karen you're in front and near me too should i converse or look at you? the couplet captures a tender confusion in the beloved’s immediate presence. the speaker is torn between the pleasure of simply seeing and the courage needed to begin conversation. the nearness makes desire stronger, yet it also intensifies shyness and fear of breaking the moment. love here becomes a choice between silent gaze and spoken words.

gar bazi ishq ki bazi hai jo chaho laga do dar kaisa gar jit gae to kya kahna haare bhi to bazi mat nahin if it be love's wager, bet what you wish, why wait? if you win it's wonderful, loss too is no check-mate

tu khuda hai na mera ishq farishton jaisa donon insan hain to kyun itne hijabon mein milen neither are you god nor is / my love the angel's sort both are human beings then why, in veils should we consort?

dil ki virani ka kya mazkur hai ye nagar sau martaba luta gaya of this heart's desolation, what is there to say? this city has, a hundred times, to plunder fallen prey the heart is imagined as a city repeatedly raided by sorrow. after so many losses, the speaker feels that mentioning its desolation is pointless, because devastation has become the norm. the exaggeration “a hundred times” conveys the long, repetitive history of pain and the numb resignation that follows.

us ne apna bana ke chhod diya kya asiri hai kya rihai hai she made me hers, away then sent what's freedom? what's imprisonment?

ishq mashuq ishq aashiq hai yani apna hi mubtala hai ishq love is the beloved, love's the paramour love is thus enmeshed/ in its own allure meer frames love as a self-contained reality: it creates both the seeker and the sought. this makes love a paradox where the wound and the healer are the same force. the emotional core is that the lover’s suffering is not caused by an external beloved, but by love’s own nature turning back upon itself.

kyun nahin leta hamari tu khabar ai be-khabar kya tere aashiq hue the dard-o-gham khane ko hum unmindful one, why do you not / enquire after me? did i become your paramour / to suffer agony?

parastish ki yan tak ki ai but tujhe nazar mein sabhon ki khuda kar chale i worshipped you, o idol, to such extremity in everybody's vision, you are divinity the lover addresses the beloved as an “idol” and says his devotion went so far that it turned into public deification. “worship” is a metaphor for extreme love and submission, while “in everyone’s eyes” hints at reputation and the power of repeated praise. the emotional core is awe mixed with regret: love has elevated the beloved beyond human measure.

ishq mein maut ka nam hai zindagi jis ko jina ho marna gawara kare life is but another name / for the death, in love' domain he who wants to live, should first / be willing to be slain

tadapti dekhta hun jab koi shai utha leta hun apna dil samajh kar any trembling object when i see i pick it up, my heart it seems to me

sau bar band-e-ishq se aazad hum hue par kya karen ki dil hi adu hai faragh ka a hundred times, love's manacles, i've broken and got free but what is to be done? my heart / is freedom's enemy the couplet presents love as a binding chain that the speaker repeatedly tries to escape. yet true release is impossible because the real jailer is within: the heart itself. the metaphor highlights inner conflict—outward freedom achieved again and again, but inward restlessness keeps pulling one back. the emotional core is helplessness before one’s own desire.

na-kaami-e-ishq ya kaamyabi donon ka hasil khana-kharabi love's despair or jubilation both result in ruination

baaten naseh ki sunin yar ke nazzare kiye aankhen jannat mein rahin kan jahannam mein rahe i listened to the preacher, eyes on my dear did dwell my eyes remained in paradise, my ears remained in hell

kabe se gharaz us ko na but-khane se matlab aashiq jo tera hai na idhar ka na udhar ka for mosques he does not bother, for temples does not care anyone who loves you is / from neither here nor there

bas mohabbat bas mohabbat bas mohabbat jaan-e-man baqi sab jazbaat ka izhaar kam kar dijiye only love, only love and only love my dear from stating other feelings / you should stay well clear

ho gaya zard padi jis pe hasinon ki nazar ye ajab gul hain ki tasir-e-khizan rakhte hain pale and wan he turned, on whom / beauties cast their glance these flowers are strange, they bear / an autumnal stance

ta-falak le gai betabi-e-dil tab bole hazrat-e-ishq ki pahla hai ye zina apna when my heart's / restlessness, to the skies did lead "this is just my first rung", mr. love decreed

khwah dil se mujhe na chahe wo zahiri waza to nibahe wo though, at heart, she holds me in disdain a civil aspect should at least maintain