The beloved, in poetry in general, and Urdu and Ghalib’s poetry in particular, isn’t necessarily a peeson in flesh and blood.
She’s a metaaphor (isti.aaraa इस्तिआराاستعارا, or kinaaya किनायाکنایہ)
for all that is attractive, enchanting, bewitching, but distant, deceitful, tormenting, spiteful, capricious.
And the tantalisingly elusive. So near, and yet, so far.
Much like all the other enteties in this world that entice, but elude, grasp.
Enchanting. Elusuve. Unrequited. Harsh Reality.
In other words, the beloved represents all that’s perenially enchanting but perpetually elusive.
Therefore, also, the whole corpus of poetic literature on unrequited love
Another point.
It’s not that poets are meek, submissive, whining failures, just obsessed with a beloved, passion and romance.
It’s that they use the romantic metaphor to bring home the harsh realities of life.
Realities that remain ever attractive, but equally, elusive.
Also, the beloved is as much a temporal as an imaginary, and a transcendental entity.
Therefore, beloved maybe in flesh and blood, the beloved maybe in poetic imagery, and the beloved maybe the ‘True Beloved’ in the form of God.