— from the ghazal beginning “asar us ko zara nahin hota”, Momin Khan Momin (1800–1852)
About this quote
देवनागरी
असर उस को ज़रा नहीं होता
रंज राहत-फ़ज़ा नहीं होता
اردو
اثر اس کو ذرا نہیں ہوتا
رنج راحت فزا نہیں ہوتا
English
It has not the slightest effect on them — and grief, for its part, brings no increase of ease.
What it means
The opening couplet of the ghazal that ends with Momin’s most famous lines. It sets the terms: the beloved is unmoved, and suffering is not secretly good for you. Urdu poetry often claims that pain refines the lover; Momin opens by refusing that consolation.
What it teaches you
The line to carry away is the second one: grief is not an investment. If you are staying in a situation that hurts on the theory that it is deepening you, ask what it has actually returned so far, and treat this is making me stronger as a claim that needs evidence rather than as a reason to stay. Momin refuses the other half of the fantasy too — that suffering visibly enough will eventually move the person causing it. Sometimes it does not register at all, and the decision has to be made without waiting for it to.
अर्थ और सीख
उन पर कोई असर नहीं होता, और दुख से कोई राहत भी नहीं मिलती। इसी ग़ज़ल का मक़ता मोमिन का सबसे मशहूर शेर है — पर शुरुआत इस साफ़ इनकार से होती है।
दर्द अपने-आप कोई निवेश नहीं है — अगर आप किसी तकलीफ़देह हालात में यह सोचकर टिके हैं कि यह आपको मज़बूत बना रही है, तो पूछिए कि अब तक मिला क्या। और यह उम्मीद भी छोड़िए कि आपकी तकलीफ़ देखकर सामने वाला पिघल ही जाएगा।
Where it comes from
Verified against the collected work of Momin Khan Momin (1800–1852) on Urdu Wikisource, in the poem beginning اثر اس کو ذرا نہیں ہوتا (source). Devanagari transliteration and English rendering are our own.
