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’selegance

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?