Ghalib’s grave – treasury of meanings is under the ground

The inscription on Ghalib’s tomb-stone in Arabic and Persian followed by translation:

a hai’yii ya qaiyuum

rashk-e-‘Urfi va faKhr-e-Talib murd Asadullah Khan Ghalib murd

kal maiN Gham-o-andoh meN baa khaatir-e-maHzuuN
tha turbat-e-ustaad pe baiTha hua Ghamnaak

dekha jo mujhe fikr meN taareeKh ke, Majruuh
haatif ne kahaa *ganj-e-ma’ani hai tah-e-Khaak*

the qita (composed four verses)  is by Mir Mahdi Majruuh; the phrase contains the chronogram of 1285 AH

The Alive, The Eternal [these are two of the names of Allah]

the envy of Urfi and the pride of Talib has died, Asadullah Khan Ghalib has died

[Urfi and Talib were Persian-Indian poets]

yesterday in sadness and mourning, grief-afflicted too

I sat by the Master’s grave with sorrow profound

seeing me thinking of a tareeKh, Majruuh [taareeKh = chronogram]

a heavenly voice said, “treasury of meanings is under the ground”

details of inscription from Ghulam Rasul Mehr’s book.

translated into English by Vasmi Abidi

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