Ghalib
Ishq Par Zor Nahīñ
A couplet on love as a fire that cannot be commanded.
Why return to it: It says with elegance what many lives learn with difficulty: love cannot be ordered to arrive or depart.
Included here: Source-safe original/transliteration where appropriate and a poetic English rendering.
Original / source note
Ishq par zor nahīñ hai ye vo ātiś G̱ẖālib
Ki lagā.e na lage aur bujhā.e na bane.
English transliteration
Ishq par zor nahīñ hai ye vo ātiś G̱ẖālib
Ki lagā.e na lage aur bujhā.e na bane.
Poetic English rendering
Love does not obey force. It is a fire: you cannot light it merely by wanting, and once it burns, command alone cannot put it out.