Poem by Ghalib

Let the ascetics sing of the garden of Paradise-
We who dwell in the true ecstasy can forget their vase-tamed
bouquet.

In our hall of mirrors, the map of the one Face appears
As the sun's splendor would spangle a world made of dew.

Hidden in this image is also its end,
As peasants' lives harbor revolt and unthreshed corn sparks
with fire.

Hidden in my silence are a thousand abandoned longings:
My words the darkened oil lamp on a stranger's unspeaking
grave.

Ghalib, the road of change is before you always:
The only line stitching this world's scattered parts.

By Ghalib