Ghalib's Quotes & Sayings

Oh, Lord, it is not the sins I have committed that I regret, but those which I have had no opportunity to commit — Mirza Asadullah Khan Ghalib

Being human, we struggle constantly to stay with the miracle of what is and not to fall constantly into the black hole of what is not. This is an ancient challenge. As the Sufi poet Ghalib said centuries ago, Every particle of creation sings its own song of what is and what is not. Hearing what is can make you wise; hearing what is not can drive you mad. — Mark Nepo

Consumed by the agony of remembrance The remembrance of night's festive company The one remaining candle flickers and dies. — Mirza Asadullah Khan Ghalib

The object of my worship lies beyond perceptions reach. For those who see, the Ka'ba is a compass, nothing more. — Mirza Asadullah Khan Ghalib

Whoever can't see the whole in every part plays at blind man's bluff. A wise man tastes the entire Tigris in every sip. — Mirza Asadullah Khan Ghalib

Since sorrow follows joy As autumn does the spring Man must transcend the joys Of earth, which sorrows bring. — Mirza Asadullah Khan Ghalib

Love demands patience, desire is restless; What color shall I paint the heart, until you savage it? You shall not ignore me when the time comes, I know, but I may turn to dust before the news reaches you. — Mirza Asadullah Khan Ghalib

Love cannot be seeded into someone. It is a fire that is difficult to kindle but once it takes on, it is equally difficult to extinguish. — Mirza Asadullah Khan Ghalib

For how tiny the world,
This ant's egg-and the sky! — Mirza Asadullah Khan Ghalib

The same year that Ghalib died in Delhi, 1869, there was born in Porbandar in Gujarat a boy called Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi. It would be with the political movements headed by Gandhi, rather than those represented by Zafar, or indeed by Lord Canning, that the future of India would lie. — William Dalrymple

I asked my soul: What is Delhi? She replied: The world is the body and Delhi its life. Mirza Asadullah Khan Ghalib — Khushwant Singh

If there is a knower of tongues here, fetch him; There's a stranger in the city And he has many things to say. — Mirza Asadullah Khan Ghalib

When nothing was, then God was there,
Had nothing been God would have been;
My being has defeated me,
Had I not been, what would have been. — Mirza Asadullah Khan Ghalib

In Paradise it is true that I shall drink at dawn the pure wine mentioned in the Koran, but where in Paradise are the long walks with intoxicated friends in the night, or the drunken crowds shouting merrily? Where shall I find there the intoxication of Monsoon clouds? Where there is no Autumn how can Spring exist? If the beautiful houris are always there, where will be the sadness of a separation and the joy of union? Where shall we find there a girl who flees away when we would kiss her? — Mirza Asadullah Khan Ghalib

The Colonel looked at this strange fashion and asked in broken Urdu, 'Well? You Muslim?' 'Half,' said Ghalib. 'What does that mean?' asked the Colonel. 'I drink wine,' said Ghalib, 'but I don't eat pork.' The Colonel laughed, and Ghalib then showed him the letter which he had received from the Minister for India [sic] in acknowledgement of the ode to Her Majesty the Queen which Ghalib has sent. The Colonel said, 'After the victory of government forces why did you not present yourself at the Ridge?' Ghalib replied, 'My rank required that I should have four palanquin bearers, but all four of them ran away and left me, so I could not come. — William Dalrymple

The path to enlightenment, to find out who you truly are, has to be taken alone. — Ghalib Shiraz Dhalla

The world is a playground -Indian — Mirza Asadullah Khan Ghalib

The world is no more than the Beloved's face. And the desire of the One to know its own beauty, we exist. — Mirza Asadullah Khan Ghalib

Lest we forget: It is easy to be human, very hard to be humane — Mirza Asadullah Khan Ghalib

The drop grows happy by losing itself in the river. — Mirza Asadullah Khan Ghalib

Love knows no difference between life and death
The one who gives you a reason to live is also the one who takes your breath away — Mirza Asadullah Khan Ghalib

They say that life is about balance. That it trades one sorrow for one joy and so forth until it finds some kind of harmony. Well, I want none of it. I've never been as dead as I was when I was balanced. I don't want life to be contained. I want it unbound, inspired. Alive. — Ghalib Shiraz Dhalla

In the deadly sweep Of every wave, A thousand dangers lie in wait. — Mirza Asadullah Khan Ghalib

Whereas it is difficult for everything to work out easily, A man cannot even afford to be a human — Mirza Asadullah Khan Ghalib

He gave me heaven and earth, and assumed I'd be satisfied; Actually I was too embarrassed to argue. The spiritual seekers are tired, two or three at each stage of the path. The rest who have given up never knew your address at all. There are so many in this gathering who wish the candle well. But if the being of the candle is melting, what can the sorrow-sharers do? — Mirza Asadullah Khan Ghalib

For the raindrop, joy is in entering the river. — Mirza Asadullah Khan Ghalib