Once, Hakeem Agha Jaan Aish, a poet of Ghalib's era, read a couplet in Mushaira for Ghalib:
اگر اپنا کہا تم آپ ہی سمجھے تو کیا سمجھے
مزا کہنے کا جب ہے اک کہے اور دوسرا سمجھے
It is not praised if you are the only one to understand what you speak
Interesting is the situation when you speak and the others understand
Ghalib felt bad for this and wrote:
نہ ستائش کی تمنّا نہ صلے کی پروا
گر نہیں ہیں مرے اشعار میں معنی نہ سہی
I don't need appreciation neither do I need any return
Let not be if there is no meaning in my couplets
This style was the definition of his uniqueness
