Translation - Na Tha Kuch Toh (Ghalib)

na tha kuch toh khuda tha, kuch na hota toh khuda hota
duboyaa mujh ko hone ne, na hota main to kya hota

Line 1/2 - When there was nothing, God was there.. If there had been nothing, there would have been God. In emptiness, God would still exist. In nothingness Only God would exist. In the beginning nothing was there, except God. If there would have been nothing, God would have still been there. My existence has let me down. Becoming (My being) has defeated me. If I did not exist, what would I be? If I did not existed, what harm would it be?

An alternate meaning of these two lines could be -
If I were nothing, then I would be God. If I am nothing, I would have been God implying God is a personal experience. Now having become God, I have become alienated from my True Self by all the vices and corruption of the human existence. What good was my life? If I did not existed, would it have really mattered?

hua jab gham se yuun behis to gham kya sar ke katne ka
na hota gar judaa tan se to zaannon par dharaa hota

Line 3/4 - When the mere existence has become a burden and a curse by the pain and suffering all around, then what is pain at the head being cut off? My loss of faith in God has made life such a misery that death looks to be the only solution and I have no qualms about it. If it would have not been cut off (for God is merciful, and He would spare my life from this violent death), it would always be bent to my knees in devotion to the God to make amends to my faithless and immoral existence.

hui muddat ke ghalib mar gayaa par yaad aataa hai
woh har ek baat pe kahna ke yuun hota to kya hota

Line 5/6 - A long time has passed since Ghalib passed away, but he still comes back to the memory. Saying every-time that had it not been this way, then how it would have been? The contemplation that if I have lived my life differently [followed the correct way] what would have I been. Would it have mattered? Would it have amounted to anything other than death because eventually death is the final Truth?

Meaning of difficult words: -
behis : shocked
zaannon : knees

Read more posts on Ghalib.

14 comments:

  1. Sorry but this translation isn't correct .....
    That's by your perception. ...
    So its not good to post your perspective instead of posting axact translation because i was searching for translate these lines .....
    And it was confusing to understand the meaning of just two lines in 8 line

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    1. exactly.im agrred with you.it totally confuion or nothing.

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  2. My view is that the explanation is to the point. Life itself is much too intricate to understand. No one knows right from wrong. In such a scenario, we might now like to say that it is incorrect.

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  3. This is an incorrect explanation

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    1. Mujhe bhi aisa hi lagta hai. Halanki mere hisab se baad wali lines ka meaning kuch is tarah nikalta hai..
      Ki agar Mera sar Matlab ego khatm na ho jata/ Matlab sar na kat jata to hakikat me hi Mera sar kat jata aur mere ghutno par dhara hota. Isme Ghalib khuda ki rahmat ki taraf ishara karte Hain jisne unka ego khatm Kar dia, kyonki ego ke Karan jindagi gamzada itni ho hai thi ki aise me agar sar kat bhi Jata to gum na hua hota.

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  4. I dont know Urdu. The above translation couldnt satisfy me either. It made me confused.Could anyone explain those verses in plain language pls?

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  5. Here’s a more comprehensive attempt... clearly, that’s the intent here: to leave the interpretation to the reader :-)

    https://urgetofly.blogspot.com/2007/04/ghalib-meaning-generator.html?m=1

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  6. my humble translation in its mirth and subtext of what little i understand of ghalib is

    When there was nothing, there was God; if there was nothing, there would have been God.
    Drowned is my existence, had I not been; who would I be?

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  7. Thank u brother Ali Zaidi, can u translate the other verses. All reward is from the Lord

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  8. Can anyone tell me the correct explnation than if this is not ?

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  9. Shayer ke feeling ko samajhna itna assaan nahi hai dear.

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  10. If God has not made me, the idea of me (human being) would have existed in the mind of God, meaning I would occupy the space in God's brain (physical term). Thus, I would be very much part and parcel of God. But once God made us of clay, He extracted the idea out from His mind. Now we (me and God) are two different entities. Precisely, 'idea of human being' which existed in the mind of God now took the physical form now - in clay or flesh and blood.

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