— Divan-e-Ghalib, from the ghazal "dil hi to hai na sang-o-khisht"
About this quote
देवनागरी:
दिल ही तो है न संग-ओ-ख़िश्त दर्द से भर न आए क्यों
रोएँगे हम हज़ार बार कोई हमें सताए क्यों
English: It is a heart, after all, not stone and brick — why should it not fill with pain? I will weep a thousand times; why should anyone torment me?
Meaning: A defence of tears: the heart is made of flesh, not masonry, and feeling pain is its right. Ghalib claims the freedom to weep without shame — a radical tenderness in any century.
अर्थ: दिल है, पत्थर-ईंट नहीं — दर्द से भरेगा ही, और रोना उसका हक़ है। आँसुओं की ऐसी बेख़ौफ़ वकालत ग़ालिब ही कर सकते हैं।
An authentic couplet from the Divan-e-Ghalib, the collected Urdu ghazals of Mirza Asadullah Khan Ghalib (1797–1869), from the ghazal beginning “dil hi to hai na sang-o-khisht”. Transliteration and English rendering are our own.
