دایم پڑا ہوا ترے در پر نہیں ہوں میں
خاک ایسی زندگی پہ کہ پتھر نہیں ہوں میں
– مرزا غالب –
Daim padaa hua tire dar par nahiN huN maiN
khaak aisi zindagi pe ki patthhar nahiN huN maiN
– Mirza Ghalib
दाइम पड़ा हुआ तिरे दर पर नहीं हूँ मैं
ख़ाक ऐसी ज़िंदगी पे कि पत्थर नहीं हूँ मैं
– मिर्ज़ा ग़ालिब
Photo by Natalia Trofimova on Unsplash
I am not a stone to lie on your threshold perpetually
my life is not worthless; I am not a stone for you to trample me
Alas! I am not a stone that lies on your threshold perpetually
my life is worthless, for if I were a stone, you would at least step on me
This sher can be interpreted in two diametrically opposite ways. The first, and the one that arguably aligns more closely with Ghalib’s characteristic pride, is a defiant assertion of self-worth. Here, he asserts his self-worth and rejects the image of the ever-humbled lover, insisting that he is not a stone destined to lie perpetually at the beloved’s threshold. Nor is his life so worthless as to allow himself to be trampled upon.
In the second interpretation, however, the tone shifts to one of profound humility, longing, and submission. He laments that he is not even a stone, for if he were, he might at least be granted the bitter sweetness of lying beneath the feet of the beloved.