Sher on Adoo

If this is what you call “testing,” then what would you call tormenting someone?

When you’ve chosen to side with my enemy, why are you still putting me on trial?

The speaker accuses the beloved of disguising cruelty as a mere “test.” By joining the rival, the beloved has already taken a hostile position, so continuing to demand proofs of love becomes unjust and ironic. The core emotion is wounded dignity: a protest against needless pain inflicted under the name of evaluation.

If this is what you call “testing,” then what would you call tormenting someone?

When you’ve chosen to side with my enemy, why are you still putting me on trial?

The speaker accuses the beloved of disguising cruelty as a mere “test.” By joining the rival, the beloved has already taken a hostile position, so continuing to demand proofs of love becomes unjust and ironic. The core emotion is wounded dignity: a protest against needless pain inflicted under the name of evaluation.

Any wound that holds the possibility of being stitched or healed,

Oh God, please assign that specific wound to the fate of my enemy.

Ghalib offers a paradoxical prayer where he asks God to give his enemy wounds that can be cured. This implies that the poet reserves the fatal, unhealable wounds of love for himself, considering them a badge of honor that the rival is unworthy of bearing.

Any wound that holds the possibility of being stitched or healed,

Oh God, please assign that specific wound to the fate of my enemy.

Ghalib offers a paradoxical prayer where he asks God to give his enemy wounds that can be cured. This implies that the poet reserves the fatal, unhealable wounds of love for himself, considering them a badge of honor that the rival is unworthy of bearing.

Alright, you did give a rather harsh reply, but even that I can bear.

Yet don’t recount to me the enemy’s message or words.

The speaker accepts the beloved’s bitter response, but draws a boundary: he won’t tolerate hearing an adversary’s “message” delivered through the beloved. “Adu” (enemy/rival) hints at a rival in love; repeating his words would feel like humiliation and a betrayal of intimacy. The couplet turns on self-respect—pain from the beloved is endurable, but disgrace via the rival is not.

Alright, you did give a rather harsh reply, but even that I can bear.

Yet don’t recount to me the enemy’s message or words.

The speaker accepts the beloved’s bitter response, but draws a boundary: he won’t tolerate hearing an adversary’s “message” delivered through the beloved. “Adu” (enemy/rival) hints at a rival in love; repeating his words would feel like humiliation and a betrayal of intimacy. The couplet turns on self-respect—pain from the beloved is endurable, but disgrace via the rival is not.

They care so much about the rival’s feelings that even in the gathering they keep that regard in mind.

Even when they sit, they choose a place far away from the one who sits with me.

The speaker laments that the beloved gives such importance to the enemy’s “consideration” that social etiquette outweighs intimacy. The gathering (bazm) becomes a stage where distance is performed deliberately. The metaphor of seating turns emotional alienation into a visible, public gesture. The core pain is humiliation: the beloved’s loyalty seems redirected toward the rival, not the lover.

They care so much about the rival’s feelings that even in the gathering they keep that regard in mind.

Even when they sit, they choose a place far away from the one who sits with me.

The speaker laments that the beloved gives such importance to the enemy’s “consideration” that social etiquette outweighs intimacy. The gathering (bazm) becomes a stage where distance is performed deliberately. The metaphor of seating turns emotional alienation into a visible, public gesture. The core pain is humiliation: the beloved’s loyalty seems redirected toward the rival, not the lover.