Ghalib and Anonymous

Ghalib lived during the last mughal Bahadur Shah Zafar II's times. He outlived the mughal regime in Delhi and saw British establish their stranglehold on the city. In the aftermath of suppression of rebellion by sepoys, a large portion of his work was supposedly destroyed. Much of his literary output was kept alive by those that loved his poetry, wrote or sang his lines till they were etched in the collective memory of a generation. Thus his Urdu writings were handed down to the next generation.

Here is a couplet introduced to me by my friend Biren Bhuta.

उनकॆ दॆखेसे जो आजाती हैँ मुहँ पर रौनक

वो समझते हैँ कॆ बीमार का हाल अच्छा हैँ

My translation is as follows:

the sight that bestows radiance and peace
in me by her is perceived as salubrity in disease

Another one sent by my friend Puneet Sharma goes as follows. Provenance of these lines is unknown.

तू मत देख कोई शक्स गुनहगार है कितना..,
बस यह देख वो तेरे साथ वफादार है कितना

हो सकता हैं उसे कुछ लोगो से नफरत हो
पर ये देख उसे तुझ से प्यार हैं कितना…

My translation is as follows:

wouldn't it be better to see
in a person his loyalty
than an apparent deficiency
though he might have hurt
others that do not matter
to see his demeanor that
remains firm and friendly