Ghalib in Translation
Huzoo-e-shah mein When, in the king’s durbar, poets compete In the garden’s durbar, sweet songs compete To heavenly women poets compare their loves But it is for gallows and rope that we fight Look! She’s here! Don’t say: “I haven’t seen”-- A test for the assembly’s patience and restraint? Let the sweet heart-piercing shaft go deeper still Is the she-archer’s skill now being put to test? The sacred thread and the rosary are both worthless For brahmin and sheikh, it is a severe test Experiment with her lock of hair’s great strength Hold on! Why restlessness? O my slave-heart! She will come, Ghalib, It’s a promise. Don’t fret! Beneath the old sky, the torturer’s new experiment! (Translation by H S Shivaprakash)
