jalane ki karte ho
ke de kar
muskurane ki karte ho
tha gaya hoga
ke jaane ki karte ho
“You speak of a nest to come home to — you speak of setting the heart alight. Having handed over all the sorrows of the world, you speak of smiling. It was a calamity, it will have passed — whose departure is it you speak of?”
जलाने की बात करते हो
सारी के दे
मुस्कुराने की बात करते हो
था गया होगा
के जाने की बात करते हो
The verse in Devanagari — it carries the authenticity of the original, and every Hindi reader can read it.
Across three verses the poet keeps repeating "you speak of," each time exposing how easily comforting words are handed out — a nest, a smile, the assurance that calamity has passed. The final verse turns sharpest, refusing the casual phrase "whose departure" by reminding the speaker that some losses are not small enough to be spoken of lightly.
Be careful how lightly you offer comfort to the grieving — cheap reassurance can wound more than honest silence.
The heart of this site stays with Iqbal: explore his couplets → Or browse the whole Other Voices shelf →