Hazaron Khwahishen Aisi — Mirza Ghalib

Table of Contents

Hazaron khwahishen aisi ke har khwahish pe dam nikle
Bahut nikle mere armaan, lekin phir bhi kam nikle

Dare kyon mera qaatil kya rahega us ki gardan par
Woh khoon jo chashm-e-tar se umr bhar yun dam-ba-dam nikle

Nikaala chahta hai kaam kya ta’seer-e-may se tu
Woh sarmasti kahan jis se mare khum mein se dam nikle

Mohabbat mein nahin hai farq jeene aur marne ka
Usi ko dekh kar jeete hain jis kaafir pe dam nikle

Kahan maikhaane ka darwaaza Ghalib aur kahan waa’iz
Par itna jaante hain kal woh jaata tha ke hum nikle

Sher 1 #

हज़ारों ख़्वाहिशें ऐसी कि हर ख़्वाहिश पे दम निकले
बहुत निकले मेरे अरमान, लेकिन फिर भी कम निकले

Word	Roman	Meaning
हज़ारों	Hazaron	Thousands
ख़्वाहिशें	khwahishen	desires / longings
ऐसी	aisi	such (of such a kind)
कि	ke	that
हर	har	every, each
ख़्वाहिश	khwahish	desire
पे	pe	on, upon
दम निकले	dam nikle	breath should escape; life should leave
बहुत	bahut	many, a great number
निकले	nikle	emerged, came out
मेरे	mere	my
अरमान	armaan	desires, unfulfilled yearnings
लेकिन	lekin	but, however
फिर भी	phir bhi	even then, still
कम	kam	less, few

What Ghalib is saying: Thousands of desires, each so intense it could take a life — and yet, so many of my longings emerged and still they feel too few. The paradox is deliberate: desire is simultaneously consuming and inexhaustible. He has been ruined by wanting, and yet he has not wanted enough. The word armaan carries a specific weight in Urdu — it is not just desire but unfulfilled desire, a longing that by definition remains ungratified.

Sher 2 #

डरे क्यों मेरा क़ातिल, क्या रहेगा उसकी गर्दन पर
वो ख़ून जो चश्म-ए-तर से उम्र भर यूँ दम-ब-दम निकले

Word	Roman	Meaning
डरे	dare	should be afraid
क्यों	kyon	why
मेरा	mera	my
क़ातिल	qaatil	killer, murderer
क्या रहेगा	kya rahega	what will remain
उसकी	us ki	his/her
गर्दन पर	gardan par	on the neck (i.e., on his conscience)
वो ख़ून	woh khoon	that blood
चश्म-ए-तर	chashm-e-tar	wet eye; weeping eye
उम्र भर	umr bhar	throughout a lifetime
यूँ	yun	like this, thus
दम-ब-दम	dam-ba-dam	breath by breath, moment by moment
निकले	nikle	emerges, flows

What Ghalib is saying: Why should my killer fear? What blood will be on their hands? The “blood” that has flowed from my weeping eyes throughout my life has already killed me, drop by drop, moment by moment. The cruelty wasn’t a single act — it was a slow lifetime of tears. This is classic Ghalib: the beloved is the killer, but the real murder weapon is the poet’s own grief, and it has been working so long there is nothing left to accuse anyone of.

Sher 3 #

निकाला चाहता है काम क्या तासीर-ए-मय से तू
वो सरमस्ती कहाँ जिससे मेरे ख़ुम में से दम निकले

Word	Roman	Meaning
निकाला चाहता है	nikaala chahta hai	wants to extract, wishes to derive
काम	kaam	work, purpose, use
तासीर	ta’seer	effect, potency
मय	may	wine
सरमस्ती	sarmasti	intoxication, drunken ecstasy
कहाँ	kahan	where? (implying: nowhere)
जिससे	jis se	such that, whereby
मेरे	mare	my
ख़ुम	khum	wine jar, vessel
दम निकले	dam nikle	breath should escape; the jar should sigh

What Ghalib is saying: What do you expect to get from the power of wine? Where is the kind of intoxication that would make the very wine jar sigh? The poet is beyond ordinary drunkenness — he is so consumed by longing that even wine cannot touch him. The wine jar (khum) “sighing” is a beautiful image: if the container itself breathes out in ecstasy, only then might this level of intoxication match what the poet needs. Ordinary wine is not enough for extraordinary grief.

Sher 4 #

मोहब्बत में नहीं है फ़र्क़ जीने और मरने का
उसी को देख कर जीते हैं जिस काफ़िर पे दम निकले

Word	Roman	Meaning
मोहब्बत	mohabbat	love
में	mein	in
नहीं	nahin	is not, there is no
फ़र्क़	farq	difference
जीने	jeene	living
और	aur	and
मरने	marne	dying
उसी	usi	that very one, none other
को देख कर	ko dekh kar	by seeing, upon beholding
जीते हैं	jeete hain	we live
जिस	jis	that, the one who
काफ़िर	kaafir	one who is cruel, faithless (used for the beloved)
पे	pe	upon, for
दम निकले	dam nikle	breath should leave; life is worth losing

What Ghalib is saying: In love, there is no difference between living and dying. We live only by looking at the one for whom life itself is worth surrendering. The word kaafir is a signature Ghalib move — in Urdu poetry it does not mean an enemy of religion but the beloved who is “faithless” to the lover, cruel in their indifference. To live while continuously dying for such a person — this is the condition of the lover. Living and dying have become the same thing.

Sher 5 (Maqta — the signature couplet) #

कहाँ मयख़ाने का दरवाज़ा ग़ालिब और कहाँ वाइज़
पर इतना जानते हैं कल वो जाता था कि हम निकले

Word	Roman	Meaning
कहाँ	kahan	where? (how far apart)
मयख़ाने का दरवाज़ा	maikhaane ka darwaaza	the door of the tavern
ग़ालिब	Ghalib	the poet’s pen name (takhallus)
और कहाँ	aur kahan	and where?
वाइज़	waa’iz	the preacher, the moralist
पर	par	but
इतना	itna	this much
जानते हैं	jaante hain	we know
कल	kal	yesterday
वो	woh	he (the preacher)
जाता था	jaata tha	was leaving, was going
कि	ke	when, as
हम निकले	hum nikle	we came out, I emerged

What Ghalib is saying: How far apart are the tavern door and the preacher, O Ghalib — but this much we know: yesterday, as he was leaving, I was coming out. The maqta (final couplet) traditionally includes the poet’s pen name and a wry, often humorous turn. Here Ghalib catches himself — and the preacher — at the same door. The preacher who condemns the tavern and the poet who inhabits it are not as different as they pretend. They are, perhaps, using the same door. The irony is gentle and devastating at once: Ghalib has been caught in his own joke.