Jio supnā ar pekẖnā aise jag kao jān.

In mai kacẖẖ sācẖo nahī Nānak bin bẖagvān. ||23||

Know this world is like a dream and a show. 

None of this is true, O Nanak, without God. ||23||

Jaise jal ṯe buḏbuḏā upjai binsai nīṯ.

Jag racẖnā ṯaise racẖī kaho Nānak sun mīṯ. ||25||

As the bubbles in the water well up and disappear again,

so is the universe created; says Nanak, listen, O my friend! ||25||

English Poetry Using the Bubble Metaphor

The metaphor of life being like a bubble is a common one in English literature as well and has been used in various poems throughout history. Here are a few examples:

"The Bubbles of the Foam" by Emily Bronte:

In this poem, Bronte compares life to the fleeting bubbles of foam on a river, emphasizing how quickly life passes and how easily it can be forgotten:

"Down the dimpled, dancing river,

With a rippling, shining motion,

With a whirlpool's leaping fury,

And a flashing, foam-born notion!

Life, like bubbles on the river,

Sparkling, changing, born and dying,

Lulled awhile from its wild motion,

Glitters, quivers, and goes flying."

"A Bubble" by Robert Frost:

In this short but powerful poem, Frost uses the metaphor of a bubble to represent the fragility and impermanence of life:

"A winter day

In a deep and dark December;

I am alone,

Gazing from my window to the streets

Below

On a freshly fallen silent shroud of snow.

I am a bubble,

An iridescent bubble,

Caught in a frozen web

Between the sun and moon."

"Life's Bubble" by Ella Wheeler Wilcox:

Wilcox's poem uses the bubble metaphor to emphasize the importance of living life to the fullest, as the bubble can burst at any moment:

"Life is but a bubble,

Fraught with every hue,

Born to shine and sparkle,

For a moment's view.

Then it bursts forever,

Leaving but a drop,

Its unbounded brightness

Blighted in a stop."

Rahi nagufta mere dil mein dastan meri
na is dayar mein samjha koi zaban meri

1.

रही न-गुफ़्ता मिरे दिल में दास्ताँ मेरी
न उस दयार में समझा कोई ज़बाँ मेरी

No tale remained unspoken in my heart—
Yet in that land, no one understood my language.

Commentary:
The poet has poured out his entire story—his grief, love, yearning—but finds himself in a place where his words mean nothing. It speaks to alienation: a total disconnect between inner experience and outer reception. The "dayaar" (foreign land) may be literal or symbolic—he is among people who cannot grasp the depths of his emotional truth.

2.

ब-रंग-ए-सौत-ए-जरस तुझ से दूर हूँ तन्हा
ख़बर नहीं है तुझे आह कारवाँ मेरी

Like the fading sound of a caravan bell, I am far and alone from you—
You have no idea, alas, of the caravan that was once mine.

Commentary:
A remarkable auditory image—his presence is like the faint sound of a departing caravan bell. He's been left behind, or has moved away unnoticed. There's both abandonment and the pain of being unheard by the one he longs for.

3.

तिरे न आज के आने में सुब्ह के मुझ पास
हज़ार जाए गई तब-ए-बद-गुमाँ मेरी

You did not come today either, nor at dawn—
My restless and suspicious temperament has wandered a thousand places.

Commentary:
Mir captures the obsessive agony of waiting. The beloved doesn’t arrive, and the poet’s imagination spirals. His mind wanders not with hope, but with dark, suspicious thoughts—perhaps betrayal, indifference, or forgetfulness.

4.

वो नक़्श-ए-पै हूँ मैं मिट गया हो जो रह में
न कुछ ख़बर है न सुध हैगी रह-रवाँ मेरी

I am a footprint that has vanished on the path—
The travelers of that road neither notice nor remember me.

Commentary:
This is one of the most profound metaphors in the ghazal. The speaker’s very existence has been erased, like a mark in dust that time and motion have swept away. The world has moved on, indifferent to his pain.

5.

शब उस के कूचे में जाता हूँ इस तवक़्क़ो' पर
कि एक दोस्त है वाँ ख़्वाब पासबाँ मेरी

Each night I go to her alley in this hope—
That a friend there may guard my dreams.

Commentary:
Dreams are his last refuge, and even that space feels fragile. He visits the beloved’s street—not for union, but perhaps for proximity, for the imagined comfort of a friend who might protect his dreams from despair.

6.

उसी से दूर रहा असल मुद्दआ' जो था
गई ये उम्र-ए-अज़ीज़ आह राएगाँ मेरी

I remained far from what truly mattered—
Alas, this precious life of mine has gone in vain.

Commentary:
A deeply regretful line. The speaker confesses he missed the essential point of life—be it love, union, self-realization, or purpose. The repetition of "ah" reinforces the helpless sigh of someone who knows it’s too late.

7.

तिरे फ़िराक़ में जैसे ख़याल मुफ़्लिस का
गई है फ़िक्र-ए-परेशाँ कहाँ कहाँ मेरी

In your separation, like a pauper’s thoughts—
My scattered mind has wandered everywhere.

Commentary:
Here, separation makes the mind impoverished, untethered. The simile—“like a poor man’s thoughts”—suggests hunger, desperation, and distraction. His thinking becomes fractured, vagrant, unruly.

8.

नहीं है ताब-ओ-तवाँ की जुदाई का अंदोह
कि ना-तवानी बहुत है मिज़ाज-दाँ मेरी

There is no strength to bear the sorrow of separation—
For my nature is already weakened by helplessness.

Commentary:
He’s not just sad—he’s exhausted. Separation is unbearable because he has no reserve strength left. This verse speaks to the compounded effect of emotional and physical weakness—he’s worn thin.

9.

रहा मैं दर-ए-पस-ए-दीवार-ए-बाग़ मुद्दत लेक
गई गुलों के न कानों तलक फ़ुग़ाँ मेरी

I remained behind the garden wall for ages—
Yet my cries never reached the ears of the flowers.

Commentary:
The image is heartbreaking. He is close to beauty (the garden), yet separated by a wall. His longing is muffled; even nature—normally a companion in classical Urdu poetry—is deaf to his suffering.

10.

हुआ हूँ गिर्या-ए-ख़ूनीं का जब से दामन-गीर
न आस्तीन हुई पाक दोस्ताँ मेरी

Since bloody weeping has gripped my collar—
None of my friends’ sleeves have remained unstained.

Commentary:
The poet weeps so intensely, so violently, that his bloodied tears stain the sleeves of his friends. Either he is burdensome to them, or his grief contaminates even those who care for him. There’s sorrow and shame in this couplet.

11.

दिया दिखाई मुझे तो इसी का जल्वा 'मीर'
पड़ी जहान में जा कर नज़र जहाँ मेरी

Whatever appeared to me, it was just this vision, O Mir—
Wherever in the world my gaze fell.

Commentary:
A metaphysical closure. Mir sees the beloved—or the same sorrow—everywhere. His vision is no longer just physical, but spiritual. The world reflects his inner state, and the beloved's image is etched onto all of existence.

Lyrics in English (full ghazal in hindi below)

Full Ghazal: 

Another English translation

Discussion in Urdu

Another Translation

Kya Kahoon Tumse Main Ki Kya Hai Ishq

Another Translation found on Facebook: