Interruption from Ghalib

This is Tim's brother joining in. I'm studying Chinese literature at the University of Washington in Seattle. Last night I happened to go to a talk by a professor, in another part of my department, who studies various Indian languages, and he talked about this couplet by Ghalib:

When nothing was, then there was God. Had nothing been, God would have been.
My being has defeated me. Had I not been, what would have been?

(translated by Ralph Russell)

There were refreshments including wine after the talk, and the combination of wine and this poem made me deliriously happy.