Translation - Ghar Humara, Jo Na Rote (Ghalib)

ghar hamara, jo na rote bhi, to wiran hota
bahr gar bahr na hota to bayaban hota

Line 1/2 - The poet laments that my home would have still been desolate (deserted), even if i did not cry. If the ocean was not an ocean, it would have been a desert. If i had no worries, no regrets, no unfulfilled desires even then I would have been lonely (all his life Ghalib was a prisoner of the misery of human existence). If the ocean was not an ocean (and i lost and hopeless in the middle of it), then it would have been a desert and i would still be a bewildered and despondent lost in its endless sands dunes.

tangi-e-dil ka gila kya, ye wo kafir dil hai
ki agar tang na hota, to pareshan hota

Line 3/4 - Why should i bemoan and complain about my tormented and tortured heart. This heart of mine is such an infidel heart. That if it was not in torment and pain(of longings of love), then it would have been anxious(about human existence). Ghalib laments that even if rigors of love were not there, his heart would have still be restless and uneasy.

bad-e-yak umr-e-wara, baar to deta bare
kash rizwan hi dar-e-yar ka darban hota

Line 5/6 - I have not been able to find the meaning of words used in Line 5. So this interpretation is based on what i read on the internet. The poet says that after a life time of piousness and piety(where he abhors from alcohol and other vices) they would have finally granted him entry into heaven. I wish if the guards to heaven were the doorkeeper of my beloved's door. Ghalib says that entry to heaven was much easier (compared to what he is facing in meeting his lover) , and had the same guards had been at his beloved's door, he would have succeeded in having a glance of his lover.

Meaning of difficult words :-
wiran = deserted
bahr = sea
bayaban = desert
rizwan = doorkeeper of paradise
darban = doorkeeper

Read more posts on Ghalib.

2 comments:

  1. The last line is based on a pun.

    bad-e-yak umr-e-wara, baar to deta bare

    The first baar is permission to enter... The second baare is certainly.

    After a lifetime of pity, I would have certainly got permission to enter... If only rizwan (guards of heaven) were guarding the gate of the beloved :)

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