— Divan-e-Ghalib, from the ghazal "be-khudi be-sabab nahin"
About this quote
देवनागरी:
बे-ख़ुदी बे-सबब नहीं ‘ग़ालिब’
कुछ तो है जिस की पर्दा-दारी है
English: This self-forgetting is not without cause, Ghalib — there is something being kept behind the veil.
Meaning: Ghalib notices his own distraction and reads it as evidence: the heart is hiding something from its owner. A couplet for every mood we cannot explain — the veil itself is the proof that something lies behind it.
अर्थ: बे-ख़ुदी यूँ ही नहीं होती — ज़रूर कुछ है जो छुपाया जा रहा है। जो बेचैनी समझ न आए, उसके पीछे कोई राज़ ज़रूर है।
An authentic couplet from the Divan-e-Ghalib, the collected Urdu ghazals of Mirza Asadullah Khan Ghalib (1797–1869), from the ghazal beginning “be-khudi be-sabab nahin”. Transliteration and English rendering are our own.
