Ghalib: kab se hooN kya bataaooN

1. kab se hooN, kya bataaooN jahaan-e-KHaraab meiN ?
shab haaye hijr ko bhee rakhooN gar hisaab meiN

[what can I tell you, from when I have been in this world of problems?
not only the nights, but also if I inlcude the period of seperation in my calculations]

2. taa fir na intezaar meiN neeNd aaye 'umr bhar
aane ka 'ahad kar gaye aaye jo KHwaab meiN

[so that, in waiting for you, i do not get sleep for ever
you promised to come, when you came in my dreams]

3. qaasid ke aate-aate KHat ik aur likh rakhooN
maiN jaanta hooN jo woh likhenge jawaab meiN

[before the messenger comes, let me write one more letter
i know, what she will write in her reply]

4. mujh tak kab unkee bazm meiN aata tha daur-e-jaam
saaqee ne kuchch mila na diya ho sharaab meiN

[when has the session of drinks ever reached till me, in her gatherings
i hope that the bar tender has not mixed/put anything in the drinks]

5. 'ghalib' chutee sharaab, par ab bhee kabhee-kabhee
peeta hooN roz-e-abr-o-shab-e-maahtaab meiN

['ghalib', i have stopped drinking(alcohol), but even now, sometimes
i drink on cloudy days and moonlit nights]

Dictionary: jahaan-e-KHaraab = world of problems; shab = night; hijr = separation
taa = so that; 'ahad = promise; qaasid = messenger; bazm = meeting/"mehafil"
saaqee = bar tender; abr = clouds; roz-e-abr = cloudy day; maahtaab = moon

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