yeh duniya hai yahaN par kaam hota hai saleeqe se

yahan pathhar ko bhi laal-e-giraaN kehna hi paRta hai

--Jagannath Azad (1918-2002)

ये दुनिया है यहाँ पर काम होता है सलीक़े से

यहाँ पत्थर को भी लाल-ए-गिरां कहना ही पड़ता है

An off the cuff paraphrasing would read...

In this world, one has to act with grace and style to get by.

Here, one is forced to describe even a stone as a precious gem/ruby.

Jagannath Azad was a celebrated scholar, academician and poet. He was a renowned authority on Allama Iqbal's poetry and had authored several articles and books on the poet. Azad's father Tilok Chand 'Mehroom', was a great scholar of Persian and Urdu and was highly regarded as a poet in his time. Among his admirers were poets of the stature of Allama Iqbal and Firaq Gorakhpuri. It was under his tutelage and influence that his son blossomed as a poet and a man of letters. As a poet, Azad struck a chord of simplicity alluding to contemporary issues using classical diction and figures of speech as in the shair cited here. Another shair from the same Ghazal goes...

na poocho kya guzarti hai dil-e-Khud_daar par aksar

kisi be mehr ko jab mehrbaaN kehna hi paRta hai

न पूछो क्या गुज़रती है दिल-ए-ख़ुददार पर अक्सर

किसी बे मेहर को जब मेहरबाँ कहना ही पड़ता है

A loose translation would read...

Do not ask what the self-respecting heart often experiences

when one is compelled to treat a cruel person with respect and call him kind and compassionate.

Also Read: Urdu Couplet Of the Day-26