This song was Gulzar's tribute to the legendary Urdu poet Mirza Ghalib (1797-1869). The mukhda of the song was adapted from a verse from Ghalib's poem called "Muddat Hui Hai Yaar Ko Mehman Kiye Hue". Gulzar replaced the word "Ji" in the original verse with the word "Dil". The same Ghalib 'sher' was also adapted by lyricist Abhishek Chatterjee 'Majaal' for the mukhda of a song in the film "Gone Kesh" (2019).[1]