Mirza Ghalib

Mirza Ghalib (1797-1869), born Asad Allah Beg Khan, was an Indian Urdu poet. He was resident poet of the Indian Mughal court.

Wisdom & Quotes

• In the deadly sweep

Of every wave,
A thousand dangers
Lie in wait.

• I love her indifference;

For broader my outlook be
When I find the joy of my heart
So hid from me.

• Flasks full of wine in the tavern show,

Few with love of wine to it did ever go;
So the more men in the world you find,
The fewer there are firm of will of mind.

• Consumed by the agony of remembrance

The remembrance of night's festive company
The one remaining candle flickers and dies.

• My race is run,

And the end has come
Of the mighty trail I blazed:
I hear the breakers roar below;
And curling mists, and a numbing
Cold are creeping up, steady
And sure of their helpless prey,
As from here there is no going back!

• Where there is no ugliness, beauty could not shine

Bitter and sweet, beauty and ugliness are foils and necessary opposites.

• Since sorrow follows joy

As autumn does the spring
Man must transcend the joys
Of earth, which sorrows bring.

Mary Shelley