Na tha kuchh to ḳhuda tha kuchh na hota to khuda hota

 Na tha  kuchh  to  ḳhuda  tha  kuchh  na  hota  to  khuda  hota

Na tha  kuchh  to  ḳhuda  tha  kuchh  na  hota  to  khuda  hota

Duboya mujh  ko  hone  ne  na  hota  main to  kya  hota

Hua  jab  gham  se  yuun  be-his  to  gham  kya  sar  ke  katne ka

Na hota  gar  juda  tan se  to  zaanu  par  dhara  hota

Hui  muddat  ki  'Ghalib'  mar  gaya  par  yaad  aata  hai

Vo har  ik  baat  par  kehna  ki  yuun  hota  to  kya  hota

God was there when yet there was nothing;

If there was naught, even then He would have been;

My existence has drowned me in disgrace—

if I were not---I wonder what would have been?

 

When insensible to grief one has become,

Then if the head is severed, no lament

There’d be; if not asunder

Then on the knee, resting it would have been,

 

A long time’s passed since Ghalib died,

But yet he is remembered;

For everything he would exclaim---

“If it were like this, what would it be?”

translation by Yusuf Husain