Thursday, 17 January 2008

Oh The Brilliance

Another gem from Mirza Ghalib...

Mere marne ki du’a maange voh but parh kar namaaz,
Kis taraf jaa kar karoon main sajda-e-shukraana aaj


I refuse to translate this into verse. Essentially, the poet is saying that his lover (remember the ghazal lover is always fickle and constantly leads on the poet) has asked for his death during prayer, and he's wondering which direction he should carry-out his sajda-e-shukraana (his bow of thanks) - towards Mecca (as is usual in Muslim prayer) or towards his 'lover'.

Much better in Urdu - but you knew that...

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