— Divan-e-Ghalib, from the ghazal "ye na thi hamari qismat"
About this quote
देवनागरी:
ये मसाइल-ए-तसव्वुफ़ ये तेरा बयान ‘ग़ालिब’
तुझे हम वली समझते जो न बादा-ख़्वार होता
English: Such questions of mysticism, such eloquence, Ghalib — we would have taken you for a saint, had you not been a drinker.
Meaning: Ghalib laughing at himself: his verse touches the divine, his life does not match the sermon. The self-aware flaw, worn openly, is precisely what makes him more trustworthy than the preachers he mocked.
अर्थ: ग़ालिब ख़ुद पर हँसते हैं — शायरी में सूफ़ियों जैसी बातें, पर ज़िंदगी में मयख़ाना। यही ईमानदारी उन्हें औरों से बड़ा बनाती है।
An authentic couplet from the Divan-e-Ghalib, the collected Urdu ghazals of Mirza Asadullah Khan Ghalib (1797–1869), from the ghazal beginning “ye na thi hamari qismat”. Transliteration and English rendering are our own.
