maut bas un kii hai jo mar ke vahii;N dafn hu))e
ziist un kii hai jo us kuuche se ghaa))il aa))e
1) death belongs, in short, to those who died and were buried right there
2) life belongs to those who came, wounded, from/through that street
FWP:
SETS == PARALLELISM
LIFE/DEATH: {7,2}
For more on Ghalib's unpublished verses, see the discussion in {4,8x}. See also the overview index.
This ghazal is exceptionally late (1865), and has received almost no commentary.
Apparently those who do not have the good fortune to die and attain burial right there in that street, have only some poor simulacrum of death. And similarly, those who don't emerge wounded from that street have only some poor simulacrum of life. It's not even necessary to say that 'that street' is the beloved's. Only those who live and die in passion can be said to experience, or possess, a true life and death.