— Divan-e-Ghalib, from the ghazal "bas-ki dushwar hai"
About this quote
देवनागरी:
बस-कि दुश्वार है हर काम का आसाँ होना
आदमी को भी मयस्सर नहीं इंसाँ होना
English: Nothing difficult becomes easy of itself — even man does not easily become human.
Meaning: The distinction is between aadmi (a man by birth) and insaan (a human by character). Being born human is free; becoming humane is the labour of a lifetime — Ghalib compresses that ethics into one line.
अर्थ: आदमी पैदा होना आसान है, इंसान बनना मुश्किल। जन्म से मिली मनुष्यता और कमाई हुई इंसानियत का फ़र्क़ — एक मिसरे में पूरा दर्शन।
An authentic couplet from the Divan-e-Ghalib, the collected Urdu ghazals of Mirza Asadullah Khan Ghalib (1797–1869), from the ghazal beginning “bas-ki dushwar hai”. Transliteration and English rendering are our own.
