Urdu Ghazal: Famous and Sad Ghazals in Urdu with English Translation

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Read famous Urdu ghazals: Ghalib’s Dil-e-Nadan in full and Mir’s sad ghazal Ulti Ho Gayin, in Urdu, Roman and English. Learn what a ghazal is, its parts (matla, maqta, radif and qafia), the best sad ghazal sher and the great ghazal singers.

The ghazal (غزل) is the heart of Urdu poetry. It is a short poem of rhyming couplets, usually about love and longing, and it has been written, recited and sung across Pakistan and India for more than three hundred years. This page explains the ghazal simply and gives two of the most famous classical Urdu ghazals with Roman Urdu and our own English translation.

What is a ghazal?

A ghazal is made of couplets called sher (plural ash’ar), usually five to fifteen of them. Every sher is complete in itself, so a single couplet can be quoted on its own, but all of them share the same metre and rhyme. A ghazal has four key parts:

• Matla (مطلع): the opening sher, in which both lines end with the rhyme.
• Radif (ردیف): the word or phrase repeated at the end of every couplet. In Ghalib’s ghazal below it is kya hai.
• Qafia (قافیہ): the rhyming word just before the radif, such as hua, dawa, wafa and dua.
• Maqta (مقطع): the last sher, in which the poet usually names himself by his pen name (takhallus), like “Ghalib” or “Mir”.

Ghalib: Dil-e-Nadan Tujhe Hua Kya Hai (full ghazal)

This is one of the best-loved ghazals of Mirza Ghalib (1797–1869). It starts as a lover’s complaint, turns into questions about God and the world, and ends with Ghalib joking about himself. Here are all eleven sher.

Matla (opening sher)

دل ناداں تجھے ہوا کیا ہے
آخر اس درد کی دوا کیا ہے

Dil-e-nadan tujhe hua kya hai
Aakhir is dard ki dawa kya hai

O foolish heart, what has happened to you? What, after all, is the cure for this pain?

Sher 2

ہم ہیں مشتاق اور وہ بیزار
یا الٰہی یہ ماجرا کیا ہے

Hum hain mushtaq aur woh bezaar
Ya Ilahi ye majra kya hai

I am full of longing and she is tired of me; O God, what is going on?

Sher 3

میں بھی منہ میں زبان رکھتا ہوں
کاش پوچھو کہ مدعا کیا ہے

Main bhi munh mein zaban rakhta hoon
Kaash poochho ke mudda kya hai

I too have a tongue in my mouth; if only you would ask me what I want.

Sher 4

جب کہ تجھ بن نہیں کوئی موجود
پھر یہ ہنگامہ اے خدا کیا ہے

Jab ke tujh bin nahin koi maujood
Phir ye hangama ae Khuda kya hai

When nothing exists apart from You, then what, O God, is all this commotion?

Sher 5

یہ پری چہرہ لوگ کیسے ہیں
غمزہ و عشوہ و ادا کیا ہے

Ye pari-chehra log kaise hain
Ghamza o ishwa o ada kya hai

Who are these fairy-faced people? What are these glances, these airs and graces?

Sher 6

شکن زلف عنبریں کیوں ہے
نگہ چشم سرمہ سا کیا ہے

Shikan-e-zulf-e-ambarin kyun hai
Nigah-e-chashm-e-surma sa kya hai

Why do those amber-scented locks curl so? What is that look from kohl-dark eyes?

Sher 7

سبزہ و گل کہاں سے آئے ہیں
ابر کیا چیز ہے ہوا کیا ہے

Sabza o gul kahan se aaye hain
Abr kya cheez hai hawa kya hai

Where have the grass and the flowers come from? What is a cloud, and what is the wind?

Sher 8

ہم کو ان سے وفا کی ہے امید
جو نہیں جانتے وفا کیا ہے

Hum ko un se wafa ki hai ummeed
Jo nahin jaante wafa kya hai

I hope for faithfulness from those who do not even know what faithfulness is.

Sher 9

ہاں بھلا کر ترا بھلا ہوگا
اور درویش کی صدا کیا ہے

Haan bhala kar tera bhala hoga
Aur darvesh ki sada kya hai

Do good, and good will come to you: what else is a dervish's call?

Sher 10

جان تم پر نثار کرتا ہوں
میں نہیں جانتا دعا کیا ہے

Jaan tum par nisar karta hoon
Main nahin jaanta dua kya hai

I lay down my life for you; I know no other way to bless you.

Maqta (closing sher)

میں نے مانا کہ کچھ نہیں غالبؔ
مفت ہاتھ آئے تو برا کیا ہے

Main ne mana ke kuchh nahin Ghalib
Muft haath aaye to bura kya hai

I admit that Ghalib is nothing much; but if you get him for free, what is the harm?

Mir: Ulti Ho Gayin Sab Tadbeeren (sad ghazal)

Few ghazals are as sad as this one by Mir Taqi Mir (1723–1810). A lover looks back on a life ruined by heartbreak, where no cure worked and every day was spent in tears. The full ghazal is long; these are five of its best-known sher.

Matla (opening sher)

الٹی ہو گئیں سب تدبیریں کچھ نہ دوا نے کام کیا
دیکھا اس بیماری دل نے آخر کام تمام کیا

Ulti ho gayin sab tadbeeren kuchh na dawa ne kaam kiya
Dekha is beemari-e-dil ne aakhir kaam tamam kiya

Every plan went wrong and no medicine worked; you see, this sickness of the heart finished me off in the end.

عہد جوانی رو رو کاٹا پیری میں لیں آنکھیں موند
یعنی رات بہت تھے جاگے صبح ہوئی آرام کیا

Ahd-e-jawani ro ro kaata peeri mein leen aankhen moond
Yaani raat bahut the jaage subh hui aaram kiya

I wept my way through youth and closed my eyes in old age: I stayed awake all night, and when morning came, I rested.

ناحق ہم مجبوروں پر یہ تہمت ہے مختاری کی
چاہتے ہیں سو آپ کریں ہیں ہم کو عبث بدنام کیا

Nahaq hum majbooron par ye tohmat hai mukhtari ki
Chahte hain so aap karen hain hum ko abas badnaam kiya

It is unfair to accuse us helpless ones of being free to choose; You do whatever You wish, and give us a bad name for nothing.

یاں کے سپید و سیہ میں ہم کو دخل جو ہے سو اتنا ہے
رات کو رو رو صبح کیا یا دن کو جوں توں شام کیا

Yaan ke safed o siyah mein hum ko dakhl jo hai so itna hai
Raat ko ro ro subh kiya ya din ko joon toon shaam kiya

My whole share in the days and nights of this world is this: I wept the night into morning, or somehow dragged the day to evening.

ایسے آہوئے رم خوردہ کی وحشت کھونی مشکل تھی
سحر کیا اعجاز کیا جن لوگوں نے تجھ کو رام کیا

Aise aahu-e-ram-khurda ki wahshat khoni mushkil thi
Sehr kiya ejaz kiya jin logon ne tujh ko raam kiya

It was hard to calm the wildness of so startled a deer; whoever tamed you worked magic, a miracle.

Sad ghazal sher in Urdu

Sorrow (gham) is one of the great themes of the ghazal. Here are three more famous sad sher from classical ghazals. For many more, see our page of sad Urdu poetry.

زندگی ہے یا کوئی طوفان ہے
ہم تو اس جینے کے ہاتھوں مر چلے

Zindagi hai ya koi toofan hai
Hum to is jeene ke haathon mar chale

Is this life, or some storm? This business of living has all but killed me.

— Khwaja Mir Dard

اب تو گھبرا کے یہ کہتے ہیں کہ مر جائیں گے
مر کے بھی چین نہ پایا تو کدھر جائیں گے

Ab to ghabra ke ye kehte hain ke mar jayenge
Mar ke bhi chain na paaya to kidhar jayenge

In despair I now say that I will die; but if I find no peace even in death, where will I go then?

— Sheikh Ibrahim Zauq

آگ تھے ابتدائے عشق میں ہم
اب جو ہیں خاک انتہا ہے یہ

Aag the ibtida-e-ishq mein hum
Ab jo hain khaak intiha hai ye

At the start of love I was fire; now I am ashes, and this is where it ends.

— Mir Taqi Mir

More famous Urdu ghazals

• Hazaron khwahishen aisi ke har khwahish pe dam nikle — Mirza Ghalib (see our Ghalib shayari page)
• Patta patta boota boota haal hamara jaane hai — Mir Taqi Mir (see Mir Taqi Mir poetry)
• Woh jo hum mein tum mein qarar tha, tumhein yaad ho ke na yaad ho — Momin Khan Momin
• Ghazab kiya tere waade pe aitbaar kiya — Dagh Dehlvi
• Laai hayat aaye qaza le chali chale — Sheikh Ibrahim Zauq
• Sitaron se aage jahan aur bhi hain — Allama Iqbal (see Allama Iqbal poetry)
• Chupke chupke raat din aansu bahana yaad hai — Hasrat Mohani, made famous by Ghulam Ali
• Gulon mein rang bhare — Faiz Ahmed Faiz, sung by Mehdi Hassan
• Ranjish hi sahi — Ahmad Faraz, sung by Mehdi Hassan

To learn about the poets behind these ghazals, read our list of famous Urdu poets.

Great ghazal singers

Ghazals are poems first, but many people know them best as songs. Some of the greatest ghazal singers are Mehdi Hassan, often called Shahenshah-e-Ghazal (the king of ghazal), Ghulam Ali, Farida Khanum, Iqbal Bano, Abida Parveen, Begum Akhtar and Jagjit Singh.

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between a ghazal and a nazm? In a ghazal every sher is complete on its own and all share one rhyme and radif. A nazm is a poem on a single subject that develops from start to finish, like Iqbal’s Shikwa.

Who wrote the most famous Urdu ghazals? Mirza Ghalib and Mir Taqi Mir among classical poets; Faiz Ahmed Faiz and Ahmad Faraz among modern ones.

What is a matla and a maqta? The matla is the opening sher of a ghazal, with the rhyme in both lines; the maqta is the closing sher, where the poet uses his pen name.

How many sher are there in a ghazal? Usually between five and fifteen, though some ghazals are longer. Ghalib’s Dil-e-nadan above has eleven.

Read more in our Urdu Classics section, including Urdu poetry in English, love poetry in Urdu and famous Urdu poets.