Citation : Singh AR (2024). Sighs Take a lifetime to Be Effective. In :Ghalib, Psychology and Human Behaviour - 2 (A.R Singh and S.A Singh Eds), Mens Sana Monogr; 22:1. pg 48-49
آہ کو چاہیے اک عمر اثر ہوتے تک
کون جیتا ہے تری زلف کے سر ہوتے تک
आह को चाहिए इक उम्र असर होते तक
कौन जीता है तेरी ज़ुल्फ़ के सर होते तक
aah ko chaahiye ik umr asar hote tak
kaun jiitaa hai terii zulf ke sar hote tak
(DG 79;1: 475)
Meaning
Sighs can take a life time to have effect
Who lives long enough to win over your locks?
Explanation/Comment:
This is a very poignant ‘sher’.
Ghalib says it takes a lifetime for sighs to have an effect.
This is not just in love. It is equally applicable to other intimate relationships.
You see that with husbands and wives, for example.
Wives keep lamenting over some matters, husbands expect wives to change in certain ways.
A lifetime goes expecting transformation to occur, but it just doesn’t happen.
Ghalib asks: who lives long enough to win over the beloved’s locks?
Winning the beloved’s locks means to emerge victorious, to get close enough to the beloved to play with her locks.
Ghalib asks again: who can live so long? Meaning thereby, the beloved is so oblivious, so uncaring, that it takes a lover’s lifetime of sighs to have effect on her/him.
And who lives that long, anyway?
A lesson to all in intimate relationships. Heed the sighs of your partner. Let her/him not suffer for a lifetime just because you remain uncaring and self-centered.
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Citation : Singh AR (2024). Sighs Take a lifetime to Be Effective. In :Ghalib, Psychology and Human Behaviour - 2 (A.R Singh and S.A Singh Eds), Mens Sana Monogr; 22:1. pg 48-49
آہ کو چاہیے اک عمر اثر ہوتے تک
کون جیتا ہے تری زلف کے سر ہوتے تک
आह को चाहिए इक उम्र असर होते तक
कौन जीता है तेरी ज़ुल्फ़ के सर होते तक
aah ko chaahiye ik umr asar hote tak
kaun jiitaa hai terii zulf ke sar hote tak
(DG 79;1: 475)
Meaning
Sighs can take a life time to have effect
Who lives long enough to win over your locks?
Explanation/Comment:
This is a very poignant ‘sher’.
Ghalib says it takes a lifetime for sighs to have an effect.
This is not just in love. It is equally applicable to other intimate relationships.
You see that with husbands and wives, for example.
Wives keep lamenting over some matters, husbands expect wives to change in certain ways.
A lifetime goes expecting transformation to occur, but it just doesn’t happen.
Ghalib asks: who lives long enough to win over the beloved’s locks?
Winning the beloved’s locks means to emerge victorious, to get close enough to the beloved to play with her locks.
Ghalib asks again: who can live so long? Meaning thereby, the beloved is so oblivious, so uncaring, that it takes a lover’s lifetime of sighs to have effect on her/him.
And who lives that long, anyway?
A lesson to all in intimate relationships. Heed the sighs of your partner. Let her/him not suffer for a lifetime just because you remain uncaring and self-centered.