Ghalib
Ye Na Thī Hamārī Qismat
A verse on waiting, separation, and the strange dignity of unfulfilled love.
Why return to it: It understands that some waits do not end; they become the shape of a life.
Source note: Public-domain Ghalib; short original rendering added for accessible reading.
Original / noted line
Ye Na Thī Hamārī Qismat
Ye na thī hamārī qismat ke visāl-e yār hotā
Agar aur jīte rahte yahī intizār hotā.
English transliteration
Transliteration
Ye na thī hamārī qismat ke visāl-e yār hotā
Agar aur jīte rahte yahī intizār hotā.
Poetic English rendering
Rendering
It was not written for us to meet the beloved. Had life continued, perhaps waiting itself would have continued with it.