Khwaja Mir Dard

خواجہ میر درد

1721–1785 · Classical (Delhi)

A Sufi master of the Naqshbandi order who lived and taught in Delhi, Dard is the first great mystic of the Urdu ghazal. His slim diwan is prized for its purity and restraint.

How to read Dard

Dard's lines are short and still. Notice how he uses the ordinary vocabulary of love to speak of the soul's relation to God, often turning a familiar idiom inside out.

Couplets in the course (2)

تر دامنی پہ شیخ ہماری نہ جائیو

دامن نچوڑ دیں تو فرشتے وضو کریں

tar-daamanii pe shaikh hamaarii na jaa'iyo

daaman nichoR deñ to farishte vazuu kareñ

Shaikh, do not judge me by my wet hem;

if I wring it out, angels could make their ablutions with it.

Khwaja Mir DardMuzāre' musamman akhrab makfūf mahzūfsherAdvancedIhaam (double meaning)

زندگی ہے یا کوئی طوفان ہے

ہم تو اس جینے کے ہاتھوں مر چلے

zindagii hai yaa koii tuufaan hai

ham to is jiine ke haathoñ mar chale

Is this life, or some storm?

This living has all but killed me.

Khwaja Mir DardRamal musaddas mahzūfsherBeginnerTazaad (antithesis)