مرزا غالب
Mirza Ghalib
English title: MIRZA GHALIB
Through you the secret was revealed to the human intellect that innumerable enigmas are solved by human intellect.
You were the complete soul; literary assembly was your body. You adorned as well as remained veiled from the assembly.
Your eye is longing to witness that veiled Beauty which is veiled in everything as the pathos of life.
The assemblage of existence is rich with your harp as mountain's silence by the brook's melodious harp.
The garden of your imagination bestows glory on the universe from the field of your thought worlds grow like meadows.
Life is concealed in the humour of your verse picture's lips move with your command of language.
Speech is very proud of the elegance of your miraculous lips; Thurayyah is astonished at your style's elegance.
Beloved of literature itself loves your style: Delhi's bud is mocking at the rose of Shiraz.
Ah! You are resting in the midst of Delhi’s ruins; your counterpart is resting in the Weimar's* garden.
Matching you in literary elegance is not possible till maturity of thought and imagination are combined.
Ah! What has befallen the land of India! Ah! The inspirer of the super-critical eye!
The lock of Urdu's hair still craves for combing this candle still craves for moth's heart-felt pathos.
O Jahanabad*! O cradle of learning and art your entire super-structure is a silent lament.
The sun and the moon are asleep in every speck of your dust; though innumerable other gems are also hidden in your dust.
Does another world-famous person like him also lie buried in you? Does another gem like him also lie concealed in you?
Sources and translator credits
- Original text transcription: Bang-e-Dara — مرزا غالب — Digital transcription file at commit 39d44fc0c2b8ca25769c4b36e6eac4d90cb42b35; the source dataset does not identify the underlying print edition.Verified against this pinned digital transcription file; not checked against a print edition.Source
- Iqbal Demystified source list: Bang-e-Dara — Pinned digital dataset commit 39d44fc0c2b8ca25769c4b36e6eac4d90cb42b35; the underlying print edition is not identified by the dataset.Community dataset list; not reconciled against a print edition.Source
- Iqbal Academy Pakistan Bang-i-Dara Audio Table of Contents — Official audio contents list; cited only for the displayed Urdu and Romanized title pairsPrimary source used to document this poem’s language or title.Source
- Pinned digital source list 001 (Bang-e-Dara section headings) — Pinned repository commit 39d44fc0c2b8ca25769c4b36e6eac4d90cb42b35; digital transcription, not a selected print edition.Verified against this pinned digital transcription file; not checked against a print edition.Source
- Bang-e-Dara English translation at allama-iqbal.com — Mirza Ghalib — Public digital poem page, retrieved 2026-10-05; pinned to allama-iqbal.com commit 82547635bb6b758c45082084b2f152fc453a8056.Translation by Dr M.A.K. Khalil; English Translation by: Dr M.A.K. KhalilSource