← Back to poems

Ghalib

Dil-e Nādān Tujhe Huā Kyā Hai

Ghalib turns inward and asks the heart what wound it is carrying.

Why return to it: The couplet is compact, intimate, and almost conversational: a philosophy of pain addressed to one’s own heart.

Included here: Source-safe original/transliteration where appropriate and a poetic English rendering.

Original / source note

Dil-e nādān tujhe huā kyā hai
Āḳhir is dard kī davā kyā hai.

English transliteration

Dil-e nādān tujhe huā kyā hai
Āḳhir is dard kī davā kyā hai.

Poetic English rendering

O innocent heart, what has happened to you? What medicine could there be for a pain so deeply tied to being alive?