Selected Ash’aar from Ghalib
1
That was one man’s failure,
Not God’s rule. Come let us too
Join an expedition to Mount
Sinai. What if he unveils!
2
What sapience, Ghalib,
What eloquence, what lines!
We could name you a saint
If you quit drinking wine.
3
Every day, the heavens
Spin on their axes. Things
Happen, as things have, and
Always will. Why worry?
4
Why blame the hangman
Or shun the preacher?
That face is familiar
Whatever the disguise.
Ghalib
translations: M. Shahid Alam